In situ regulation of lipolysis by insulin and norepinephrine: a microdialysis study during...

Lipolytic responsiveness of subcutaneous and epididymal adipose tissue to norepinephrine (NE) was measured by microdialysis before and during a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp in male Sprague-Dawley rats (280 +/- 7g, n = 8). Microdialysis probes were perfused with standard Krebs-Ringer buffer without (basal condition [BC]) or with NE 10(-6) mol/L to determine basal and stimulated rates of lipolysis. The dialysate concentration of glycerol was measured (lipolytic index). NE infusion resulted in 3.0- and 4.2-fold increases in glycerol release in abdominal subcutaneous and epididymal adipose tissues, respectively. A euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp at 6 mU/kg.min increased by ninefold the insulinemia (120 +/- 9 U/L). Hyperinsulinemia suppressed basal glycerol release by 57% and 42% in subcutaneous and epididymal adipose depots, respectively (BC + I). Lipolytic responses to NE infusion during a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp (NE + I) were reduced by 45% and 33% in subcutaneous and epididymal adipose tissues, respectively, as compared with BC. Under BC, the lipolytic response to NE was greater in epididymal than in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Physiological levels of insulin regulated basal lipolysis and counteracted adrenergic stimulation of lipolysis to a similar extent in both superficial (subcutaneous) and intraabdominal (epididymal) adipose tissue. Our findings show that lipolysis is more responsive to NE in epididymal than in subcutaneous adipose tissue. The antilipolytic effects of insulin are similar in both superficial and deep intraabdominal adipose tissues. Furthermore, physiological plasma insulin levels cannot fully antagonize the lipolytic effects of NE.