Summary
We have examined the utilisation of glucose and ketone bodies in normal adipose tissue in response to insulin and some drugs used in diabetic therapy. Under basal conditions 14C from acetoacetate was incorporated into long chain fatty acids, while 14C from glucose was found principally in the glyceride glycerol fraction of tissue lipids. Fatty acid synthesis from acetoacetate was stimulated ten-fold by glucose addition up to 20m.M and conversely, acetoacetate enhanced the incorporation of glucose 14C into lipids. The stimulatory effect of glucose was independent of its transport, since it is not reproduced by 2-deoxy-glucose. Insulin further stimulated fatty acid synthesis from acetoacetate, an effect abolished in the absence of glucose. Phenethyl-biguanide (Phenformin) increased tissue glucose uptake, although it decreased glucose 14C and acetoacetate 14C incorporation into triglyceride. Free fatty acids (FFA) and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) addition at concentrations observed in diabetic ketosis resulted in inhibition of acetoacetate utilisation. We conclude that ketone bodies do not block glucose utilisation in normal human adipose tissue in vitro. The apparent reduction in ketone body metabolism during diabetic ketosis may be related to the high FFA and VLDL levels observed.
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Kissebah, A.H., Tulloch, B.R.: Unpublished results
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Kissebah, A.H., Tulloch, B.R. & Fraser, T.R. Interrelationship between glucose and acetoacetate metabolism in human adipose tissue. Diabetologia 10, 69–75 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421416
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421416