Norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in rat fat cells from visceral and subcutaneous sites: role of hormone-sensitive lipase and lipid droplets.

Abstract

Norepinephrine-induced lipolysis was examined in visceral (epididymal and omental) and subcutaneous (abdominal and femoral) fat cells in rats. Hormone-induced lipolysis was considerably higher in the visceral fat cells than in the subcutaneous cells. A higher hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) activity was present in the visceral than in the subcutaneous fat cells. Endogenous lipid droplets were prepared from rat visceral (epididymal and omental) and subcutaneous (abdominal and femoral) fat cells and norepinephrine-induced lipolysis was examined in a cell-free system consisting of the lipid droplets prepared from fat cells from each site and a fixed amount of HSL from rat epididymal adipose tissue. In this cell-free system, norepinephrine induced a higher rate of lipolysis with lipid droplets from the visceral than from the subcutaneous fat cells. These findings suggest that the difference in norepinephrine-induced lipolysis between visceral and subcutaneous fat cells may be due to the differences in HSL activity and lipid droplet character at each site.