There are a number of functional, metabolic differences between periportal and perivenous hepatocytes in the mammalian liver resulting from zonal differences in the activity of several enzymes, and possibly from morphological differences as well (1). Examples of key enzymes where the periportal/perivenous activity ratio is >1 are glucose-σ-phosphatase (2), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (3),...

Methionine restriction (MR) limits age-related adiposity in Fischer 344 (F344) rats. To assess the mechanism of adiposity resistance, the effect of MR on adipose tissue (AT) 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 (11bHSD1) was examined. MR induced 11b-HSD1 activity in all ATs, correlating with increased tissue corticosterone. However, an inverse relationship between 11b-HSD1 activity and adipocyte ...

The flight-capable morph of the wing-polymorphic cricket, Gryllus firmus, exhibited significantly higher activities of each of five lipogenic enzymes compared with the obligately flightless morph on a standard and a high-carbohydrate diet during early adulthood. Similarly, the rate of incorporation of [14C]-acetate into total lipid was higher in the flight-capable morph during this time. By con...

One month treatment of alloxan diabetic dogs with a glycoside, viz. leucopelargonin derivative (100 mg/kg/day) isolated from the bark of F. bengalensis decreased fasting blood sugar and glycosylated haemoglobin by 34% and 28% respectively. Body weight was maintained in both the treated groups while the same was decreased significantly by 10% in the control group. In cholesterol diet fed rats, a...

In addition to its economic value, milk fat is responsible for many of milk's characteristics and can be markedly affected by diet. Diet-induced milk fat depression (MFD) was first described over a century ago and remains a common problem observed under both intensive and extensive management. The biohydrogenation theory established that MFD is caused by an inhibition of mammary synthesis of mi...

Variants near the gene TRIB1 are significantly associated with several plasma lipid traits, circulating liver enzymes, and the development of coronary artery disease in humans; however, it is not clear how its protein product tribbles-1 regulates lipid metabolism. Here, we evaluated mice harboring a liver-specific deletion of Trib1 (Trib1_LSKO) to elucidate the role of tribbles-1 in mammalian h...

Obesity is a strong risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. We have previously reported that in adipose tissue of obese (ob/ob) mice, the expression of adipogenic genes is decreased. When made genetically obese, the BTBR mouse strain is diabetes susceptible and the C57BL/6J (B6) strain is diabetes resistant. We used DNA microarrays and RT-PCR to compare the gene expression in BTBR-o...

1 A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of dietary retinol status on chickens ingesting aflatoxin B1. The effects of dietary supplementation with biotin and alpha-tocopherol were also examined. 2. Aflatoxin B1 levels greater than 1 mg/kg diet had a detrimental effect on 'liveability', body-weight gain, food intake and food conversion efficiency. When fed for more tha...

I . Adult male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnixjuponicu) were starved for 48 or 60 h and then refed for either 24 or 48 h. Weight and lipid content of carcass and livers were determined, as was the lipid content of plasma. In addition, the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (EC 6 . 4 . I . 2 ; CBX), fatty acid synthetase (FAS), ATP citrate lyase (EC 4 . I . 3 .8 ; CCE) and malate dehydrogena...