Systemic nicotine stimulates human adipose tissue lipolysis through local cholinergic and catecholaminergic receptors

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the lipolytic effects of systemic nicotine are not only attributed to indirect adrenergic mechanisms, but also to a direct action of nicotine on fat cells. DESIGN: The effect of a systemic nicotine infusion (0.5 microg/kg/min for 30 min) on lipolysis in subcutaneous adipose tissue was investigated in situ in 11 non-obese, non-smoking, healthy male subjects under placebo-controlled conditions. MEASUREMENTS: By using microdialysis probes the glycerol levels (lipolysis index) and blood flow were monitored locally in subcutaneous adipose tissue. RESULTS: Plasma nicotine levels peaked (7.2 ng/ml) at the end of the infusion. Nicotine induced a mean (+/-s.e.) percentage peak increase in adrenaline and noradrenaline plasma levels of 213+/-30% (P<0.01) and 118+/-5% (P<0.05), respectively. Nicotine increased venous plasma glycerol levels by 144+/-9% (P<0.001), arterialized plasma glycerol levels by 148+/-12% (P<0.001) and adipose glycerol levels by 148+/-16% (P<0.001), but did not alter blood flow. By inducing a local cholinoceptor blockade with mecamylamine (10(-5) M) via the microdialysis system, the increase in adipose glycerol levels was inhibited by approximately 45% (P=0.02). A corresponding local beta-adrenoceptor blockade with propranolol (10(-4) M), inhibited the increase in adipose glycerol levels by approximately 60% (P=0.02). Infusion of saline (ie placebo) had no effect on the parameters mentioned above. CONCLUSION: Systemically administered nicotine induces lipolysis, in part by activating the classical adrenergic mechanism (mediated by a nicotine-induced release of catecholamines stimulating beta-adrenoceptors), and in part by directly activating a nicotinic cholinergic lipolytic receptor located in adipose tissue.     

Reduced hormone-sensitive lipase activity is not a major metabolic defect in Finnish FCHL families

The pathogenetic mechanisms behind familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL) are unknown. However, exaggerated postprandial lipemia and excessive serum free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations have drawn attention to altered lipid storage and lipolysis in peripheral adipose tissue. Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is the enzyme responsible for intracellular lipolysis in adipocytes and a decrease of adipocyte HSL activity has been demonstrated in Swedish FCHL subjects. The aim of the study was to investigate if adipose tissue HSL activity had any effect on lipid phenotype and if low HSL activity and FCHL were linked in Finnish FCHL families. A total of 48 family members from 13 well-characterized Finnish FCHL families and 12 unrelated spouses participated in the study. FCHL patients with different lipid phenotypes (IIA, IIB, IV) did not differ in adipose tissue HSL activity from each other or from the 12 normolipidemic spouses (P = 0.752). In parametric linkage analysis using an affecteds-only strategy the low adipose tissue HSL activity was not significantly linked with FCHL phenotype. However, we found a significant sibling-sibling correlation for the HSL trait (0.51, P < 0.01). Thus, a modifying or interacting role of HSL in the pathogenesis of FCHL could not be excluded.     

Studies of acute effects of insulin-like growth factors I and II in human fat cells

The acute metabolic effects and receptor binding of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) I and II were studied in human adipose tissue. The IGFs inhibited fat cell glycerol release and stimulated adipocyte 3-O-methylglucose transport and adipose tissue glucose oxidation as effectively as did insulin, but the biological potencies of the IGFs, on a molar basis, were 600-1000 times less than that of insulin. The insulin dose-response curve for antilipolysis gradually shifted to the left in the presence of submaximally and maximally effective IGF-I concentrations, whereas no additive response was found when fat cells were incubated with maximally effective concentrations of insulin and the IGFs. Adipocyte [125I]IGF-I and -II binding was low and was not inhibited by excess unlabeled IGF. In contrast, IGF-I inhibited [125I]insulin binding with a molar potency 1600 times lower than that of native insulin. In adipose tissue segments obtained from patients with untreated noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IGF-I and insulin inhibited glycerol release in a normal way. Conversely, neither insulin nor IGF-I increased the rate of glucose oxidation significantly above the nonhormone-stimulated level. We conclude that human fat cells lack specific cell surface IGF-binding sites. However, the IGFs definitely produce acute insulin-like effects in the human adipocyte, which seems to be mediated via the insulin receptor.     

Adipose tissue adiponectin production and adiponectin serum concentration in human obesity and insulin resistance

The role of adiponectin production for the circulating protein concentration in human obesity and insulin resistance is unclear. We measured serum concentration and sc adipose tissue secretion rate of adiponectin in 77 obese and 23 nonobese women with a varying degree of insulin sensitivity. The serum adiponectin concentration was similar in both groups. In obesity, adiponectin adipose tissue secretion rate per weight unit was reduced by 30% (P = 0.01), whereas total body fat secretion rate was increased by 100% (P < 0.0001). In the group being most insulin resistant (1/3), serum concentration (P < 0.001) and adipose tissue secretion rate per tissue weight (P < 0.05) were reduced, whereas total body fat secretion rate was increased (P < 0.01), by about 30%. The adipose tissue secretion rate of adiponectin was related to the serum concentration (P = 0.005) but explained only about 10% of the interindividual variation in circulating adiponectin and insulin sensitivity. The plasma adiponectin half life was long, 2.5 h. In conclusion, the role of protein secretion for the circulating concentration of adiponectin and insulin sensitivity under these conditions is minor because adiponectin turnover rate is slow. Although increased in obesity and insulin resistance, total body production of adiponectin is insufficient to raise the circulating concentration, may be due to reduced secretion rate per tissue unit.     

Relationship between lipolysis, cyclic AMP, and fat-cell size in human adipose tissue during fasting and in diabetes mellitus.

The in vitro relationship between fat-cell size, glycerol release, and peak concentration of cyclic AMP was investigated in human adipose tissue obtained from 25 obese nondiabetic patients before and after a 7-day fast and from 23 patients with untreated diabetes mellitus. In the obese nondiabetic patients there was a linear correlation between fat-cell size and cyclic AMP concentration, and fat-cell size and the rate of lipolysis. This was found both in nonfasting and fasting nondiabetic patients. However, in diabetes mellitus, there was only a relationship between cell size and cyclic AMP concentration. The alpha-adrenergic and beta-adrenergic activity in human adipose tissue was assessed by comparing the effect of isoprenaline and noradrenaline on the cyclic AMP concentration. The activity of both receptors was found to be increased in fasting obese patients and in diabetics. In both conditions the alpha-adrenergic response to catecholamines predominated in small fat cells, whereas in large ones the beta response predominated. The results suggest that during fasting and in diabetes mellitus there is a correlation between fat-cell size and the responsiveness of the adrenergic receptors. Thus, catecholamines may be involved in regulating the fat-cell volume. The view is expressed that the abnormal catecholamine-induced lipolysis is solely due to changes at the level of the adrenergic receptors during fasting, whereas in diabetes mellitus the sequentional activation of lipolysis is disturbed at deeper sites as well.     

Phosphodiesterase activity in human subcutaneous adipose tissue in insulin- and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

The influence of diabetes mellitus on phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity in human sc adipose tissue was investigated in 8 patients with insulin-dependent (IDDM) and 9 with noninsulin-dependent (NIDDM) diabetes mellitus. The results were compared with data from 10 healthy normal weight subjects. The apparent maximal PDE activity (Vmax) of the low Km form of PDE was 60% lower (P less than 0.01) in untreated IDDM and NIDDM than in the control state. After treatment of IDDM and NIDDM, the Vmax of the low Km PDE was normalized. In untreated IDDM and NIDDM, the Vmax of the low Km PDE was correlated to the cAMP level (r = 0.8). This correlation was not observed after antidiabetic treatment or in the control state. The apparent Vmax values of the high Km form of PDE were similar in the diabetic states and in control subjects. The results suggest that the low Km PDE is inhibited in untreated IDDM and NIDDM. In these conditions, PDE may be one factor responsible for regulation of the cAMP level.     

Stimulation of adipose tissue lipolysis following insulin-induced hypoglycaemia: evidence of increased beta-adrenoceptor-mediated lipolytic response in IDDM

Summary The adrenergic regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis in response to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia (intravenous infusion of soluble insulin 0.10 IU · kg body weight⁻¹· h⁻¹ until the arterial plasma glucose fell below 2.8 mmol/l) was investigated directly in vivo in 11 insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients and 12 control subjects, using microdialysis of the extracellular space of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. The tissue glycerol level (lipolysis index) and the escape of ethanol from the perfusion medium (blood flow index) were continuously monitored. During insulin infusion the arterial glucose level was reduced in parallel and the hypoglycaemic nadir was almost identical in the two groups (diabetic patients 2.2 ± 0.1 and control subjects 2.3 ± 0.1 mmol/l). While the maximum response of plasma epinephrine to hypoglycaemia was 30 % lower in diabetic patients than in the control subjects (p < 0.05), the glycerol levels in adipose tissue and in plasma, as well as in serum non-esterified fatty acids, increased twice as much in the former as in the latter group following hypoglycaemia (p < 0.01). Addition of the beta-adrenoceptor blocker propranolol (10⁻⁴ mol/l) to the tissue perfusate almost completely prevented the hypoglycaemia-induced increase in the adipose tissue glycerol level in both groups, whereas in situ perfusion with 10⁻⁴ mol/l of the alpha-adrenoceptor blocker phentolamine resulted in an additional increase in the tissue glycerol levels; during alpha-blockade, the glycerol response to hypoglycaemia remained enhanced by threefold in the diabetic patients (p < 0.01). In both groups local adipose tissue blood flow increased transiently in a similar way after hypoglycaemia; the increase being inhibited by in situ beta-adrenoceptor blockade. We conclude that both alpha- and beta-adrenergic mechanisms regulate adipose tissue lipolysis in response to hypoglycaemia. In IDDM, lipolysis is markedly enhanced following hypoglycaemia, despite a reduced catecholamine secretory response, because of increased beta-adrenoceptor action in adipose tissue. [Diabetologia (1996) 39: 845–853] Received: 5 July 1995 and in final revised form: 4 March 1996     

Action of glucagon and glucagon-like peptide-1-(7-36) amide on lipolysis in human subcutaneous adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in vivo

In vitro and animal studies have shown that glucagon and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-(7-36) amide may participate in the regulation of lipolysis. However, results on human subjects in vivo are inconclusive. To avoid confounding effects, such as changes in insulin secretion when perfusing hormones iv, we used the in situ microdialysis to analyze the impact of human glucagon and GLP-1 on lipolysis rates and local blood flow. Nine healthy volunteers were given an 80-min local perfusion of each hormone (10(-6) mol/L), both in skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius) and in sc abdominal adipose tissue, after a basal period with perfusion of Ringer's solution. Variations in the lipolysis rate and blood flow, respectively, were assessed by measuring of the dialysate glycerol content and the ethanol ratio (outgoing-to-ingoing ethanol concentration). The in vitro relative recovery of the microdialysis probes was 5.2 +/- 1.2%. No significant effects of either GLP-1 or glucagon on either lipolysis rate or blood flow were detected in muscle or adipose tissue. Isoprenaline (10(-6) mol/L), which was perfused after glucagon or GLP-1 in the same catheters, significantly increased the lipolysis rate (a 249% increase of dialysate glycerol in adipose tissue and a 72% increase in skeletal muscle). Furthermore, isoprenaline, but not glucagon or GLP-1, stimulated lipolysis in vitro in isolated human sc adipose tissue. We conclude that neither glucagon nor GLP-1 affect the lipolysis rate of human sc adipose tissue or skeletal muscle.     

The relationship between the basal lipolytic and lipoprotein lipase activities in human adipose tissue

The basal rate of lipolysis and basal lipoprotein lipase activity were determined in vitro in subcutaneous adipose tissue obtained from eight healthy non-obese subjects, ten obese subjects before and during one week's starvation, nine untreated non-insulin dependent diabetics and seven treated non-insulin dependent diabetics whose disease had been under metabolic control for at least three months. There was a negative correlation between the rate of lipolysis and activity of lipoprotein lipase in untreated diabetes mellitus and during starvation (r from -0.87 to -0.81). Under these two conditions the rate of lipolysis is increased and the lipoprotein lipase activity is decreased. There was no correlation between lipolysis and lipoprotein lipase in non-obese subjects, non-starving obese subjects and treated diabetic patients (r from 0.11 to 0.36). Thus, during starvation and in untreated diabetes, there is a strong reciprocal relationship between basal lipolytic activity and basal lipoprotein lipase activity in human adipose tissue which is not found under normal conditions or in obesity and well-controlled diabetes. It is concluded that a negative connection between lipolysis and lipoprotein lipase in human adipose tissue may be of physiological importance for the regulation of the energy balance in conditions such as untreated non-insulin dependent diabetes and starvation where adipose tissue lipids are the major source of energy.