High-fat feeding induces tissue-specific alteration in proportion of activated insulin receptors in rats

High dietary fat intake causes glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in man and in laboratory rats. We studied possible mechanisms of this insulin resistance in rat kidney, muscle and liver. In high-fat fed rats the body weight, plasma insulin concentration, plasma glucose levels, and serum triglyceride concentration were significantly higher than in the control rats. 125I-insulin binding to kidney basolateral membrane insulin receptors from high-fat fed rats was lower than in control rats. Basal as well as insulin-stimulated tyrosine kinase activity per insulin receptor was higher in the high-fat fed group, accompanied by increased autophosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the receptor and higher proportion of tyrosine-phosphorylated insulin receptors. In contrast, both in the skeletal muscle and the liver the insulin-stimulated tyrosine kinase activity per insulin receptor was significantly lower in high-fat fed animals, accompanied by diminished autophosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the receptor and lower proportion of tyrosine-phosphorylated receptors. Our results indicate tissue-specific alterations in transmembrane signaling induced by high-fat feeding in target tissues for insulin which in turn might contribute to the observed insulin resistance.