Modulation of triglyceride metabolism by glucocorticoids in diet-induced obesity

The involvement of glucocorticoids (GC) in the development of diet-induced obesity and in the concomitant adaptations of triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoprotein metabolism were examined. Rats were fed either rodent chow, which maintains a low lipid flux, or a diet high in sucrose and fat (HSF) that increases lipid flux, leading to metabolic perturbations similar to those that define the plurimetabolic syndrome in humans. The GC status was manipulated through adrenalectomy (ADX) and corticosterone (Cort) replacement. Compared with chow, the HSF diet increased energy intake (17%) and whole body (8%) and adipose tissue (80%) weights. The HSF diet also increased the acute postprandial rise in plasma insulin (4-fold) and TG (3-fold), fasting liver TG content (3-fold), triglyceridemia (54%), and adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity (2-fold). ADX decreased energy intake and whole body and adipose tissue weights in both dietary cohorts, but more so in HSF-fed than in chow-fed animals. These ADX-induced effects were totally prevented by Cort replacement in rats fed chow, but only partially so in those fed the HSF diet in proportion to the degree of restoration of energy intake. In the chow-fed cohort, the above indexes of TG metabolism remained unaffected by the Cort status, whereas in the HSF-fed cohort, these variables were decreased by ADX to levels of chow-fed animals. Cort replacement in the HSF-fed animals restored indexes of TG metabolism to intact levels and reestablished the diet-related differences observed in intact animals. These findings indicate that GC modulate fasting TG metabolism only minimally when a diet that maintains a low lipid flux is fed. In contrast, their presence is a necessary condition for the development of diet-induced obesity and the concomitant alterations in insulin sensitivity and TG-rich lipoprotein metabolism.