The Double Effect of Human Chorionic Somatomammotropin (HCS) and Pregnancy on Lipogenesis and on Lipolysis in the Isolated Rat Epididymal Fat Pad and Fat Pad Cells

Abstract

Incubation of epididymal fat pads from fed rats in the presence of 2 mg/ml glucose resulted in the stimulation of glucose metabolism with the absence of any effect on lipolysis. Similar results were obtained when comparing the incubation of parametrial tissue of pregnant rats at three-fourths pregnancy with tissue from nonpregnant rats as control.

Incubation of isolated adipose cells from the epididymal fat pad of fasting rats in the presence of 0.5 mg/ml glucose demonstrated a marked effect on lipolysis as measured by glycerol release.

The stimulatory effect of HCS on both lipogenesis and lipolysis, under different experimental conditions, and the parallelism of the observations between the effect of HCS and of pregnancy on glucose metabolism of adipose tissue evidences the major role played by HCS during pregnancy.

HCS - Pregnancy - Lipolysis - Lipogenesis.