Catecholamine turnover in S 5B/P1 and Osborne-Mendel rats: response to a high-fat diet

Catecholamine turnover in response to fasting, cold exposure, and a high-fat diet has been measured in the Osborne-Mendel rat, which readily develops obesity when fed a high-fat diet, and the S 5B/P1 rat, which does not. We have tested the hypothesis that this difference in response to diet might be associated with altered rates of norepinephrine or epinephrine turnover. The endogenous norepinephrine concentration in interscapular brown adipose tissue was significantly greater in fasted S 5B/P1 rats than in fasted Osborne-Mendel rats. The fractional norepinephrine turnover rate in interscapular brown adipose tissue of fasted animals was also greater in the S 5B/P1 rat than in the Osborne-Mendel rat. Cold exposure increased the fractional norepinephrine turnover rate in interscapular brown adipose tissue for both strains of rats but increased the fractional norepinephrine turnover rate in the pancreas in only the Osborne-Mendel rats. The turnover of epinephrine and the adrenal concentration of this hormone were not different between the two strains. Normal and high-fat diets were fed to both strains; the Osborne-Mendel rats were pair fed the high-fat diet to prevent excess weight gain. Endogenous concentrations of norepinephrine in interscapular brown adipose tissue was increased by the high-fat diet; the increase was greater in S 5B/P1 rats. The high-fat diet resulted in increased norepinephrine turnover in interscapular brown adipose tissue of the S 5B/P1 rat but not the Osborne-Mendel rat.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)