Diminished ketosis and triglyceridemia during fasting in odd-carbon enriched pregnant rats

The lipolysis, ketosis and hypertriglyceridemia of fasted rats in late pregnancy may be related to decreased insulin secretion geared to decreased glucose availability. In odd-carbon fatty acid enriched (OCE) rats, the odd-carbon fatty acids (OCFA) mobilized during fasting provide terminal three-carbon residues which are glucogenic, thereby permitting blood glucose and insulin to be maintained close to fed levels. The present study has used OCE rats to evaluate the role of insulin in the altered fat metabolism of the fasted rats in late pregnancy. The adipose tissue of 24 female Sprague-Dawley rats was enriched to more than 25% undecanoate (c11:0) and higher OCFA by feeding them a complete diet high in triundecanoin content for six weeks. Twenty-four female controls were fed a similar diet except that the fat was exclusively corn oil. Both OCE and control rats were than mated and on day 18 of pregnancy were divided into four groups: one group was killed fed, one after a 24 h fast, and one after a 48 h fast; the fourth group was fed to day 20 of pregnancy and then killed. In the fed state, the concentrations of glucose, ketones, and cholesterol in serum, as well as that of glycogen in liver, were the same in control and OCE rats. Insulin and triglycerides were similarly elevated in the two groups. After two days of fasting, serum glucose, insulin, and liver glycogen concentrations were significantly higher in OCE than in control rats, while ketones and triglycerides were significantly lower. No significant changes occurred in serum cholesterol. The results are consistent with a predominantly insulin effect in the pregnant OCE rats in diminsihing the marked fasting lipolysis, hyperketonemia and hypertriglyceridemia observed in controls, but do not rule out inhibition of FFA release by in situ re-esterification to glycerol derived from glucose or propionic acid.