[Lipid mobilization in obesity without carbohydrate intolerance. 2. Caffeine-stimulated lipolysis]

The lipolysis induced by i.v. injection of caffeine (3 mg/kg body weight) has been investigated in 11 normal subjects and 18 obese patients with normal 50 g oral glucose tolerance test and normal thyroid-function. The pattern of blood-glucose and immunoreactive insulin (IRI) secretion were not influenced by caffeine in both groups. Both in the controls and obese group a significant response of FFA and glycerole were noted. In the obese group the caffeine-induced lipolysis was slightly higher as compared with controls. There are no differences in FFA-response between obese group and controls. The observations suggest that an impaired lipolysis is not a pathogenetic factor for development of obesity.