Effects of bone fracture and starvation-refeeding on lipogenesis in rats

The effects of trauma and/or starvation-refeeding on lipogenesis in rats was studied. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to fracture of the right femur and either ad libitum fed or starved for 48 hours and refed a 65% glucose diet for 48 hours. Lipogenesis was assessed in terms of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity or the incorporation of 3HOH into lipids by liver and adipose tissue. Traumatized rats differed little from control rats in their lipogenic activity, whereas starved-refed and starved-refed-traumatized rats had greatly increased lipogenic activities. These results suggest that the fatty liver that frequently develops as a consequence of trauma in humans may be due to their decreased food intake rather than to the trauma itself.