Metabolic concomitants of hypophagia during recovery from insulin-induced obesity in rats

Rats were given daily injections of protamine-zinc insulin (PZI) that increased food intake and body weight. Termination of insulin treatment resulted in transient hypophagia and weight loss. Simultaneously with the weight loss, plasma levels of glycerol, free fatty acids, glucose, and ketones increased, whereas adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity and liver glycogen decreased. These changes in food intake and metabolism after termination of PZI treatment were accentuated in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Two antilipolytic drugs (nicotinic acid and 3,5-dimethylpyrazole) blocked the elevation in plasma glycerol while having no effect on food intake. A 1-day fast after termination of insulin treatment equalized insulin-treated and control groups for plasma glycerol and ketones and reversed group differences in free fatty acids; the elevation in plasma glucose persisted despite starvation. Following starvation, previously PZI-treated rats ate less than controls on refeeding. The results show that enhanced lipolysis does not invariably accompany hypophagia during excess weight loss and suggest that a disturbance in carbohydrate metabolism or an increase in hepatic fatty acid oxidation may underlie this decrease in food intake.