Lipoprotein lipase activity in adipose tissue of spontaneously hyperlipidemic rats

The lipoprotein lipase activity in adipose tissue of Sprague-Dawley rats 1, 4, 9 and 15 months of age, was investigated. The study revealed that a significant inverse relationship exists between serum triglyceride level and lipoprotein lipase activity in epididymal fat pad. Thus, the lipoprotein lipase activity in 1 and 15 months old rats are on the average 5.3 and 1.1 nkat/g wet weight, respectively, simultaneously as serum triglyceride level increase from 0.74 mmol/l to 3.51 mmol/l, respectively. It is suggested that impaired removal of very low density lipoproteins is one possible explanation of the enhanced levels of this lipoproteins in the old rat. The lipase activity investigated had the characteristic properties of lipoprotein lipase, i.e. it was activated by the addition of serum, inhibited by high ionic strength and varied with the nutritional state. However, it could not be exclude that monoacylglycerol lipase present in epididymal fat pad also decreased with age. The possible connection between the age-related reduction of lipoprotein lipase activity in epididymal fat pad and the age-related gomerulonephritis found in these rats is discussed.