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Biomedical subjects

D N Brindley

Publications and source records attributed to D N Brindley.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Control of hepatic triacylglycerol synthesis. Diurnal variations in hepatic phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity and in the concentrations of circulating insulin and corticosterone in rats.

Male rats were kept for 14 days with alternating 12h periods of light and darkness. The hepatic activity of soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and the concentration of serum insulin were maximum at about 2h after dark. The peak concentration of serum corticosterone occurred 2h before the dark period. It is proposed that corticosterone is partly responsible for the increased phosphohydrolase activity, and that this enables the liver to increase its capacity to synthesize triacylglycerols during the period of maximum feeding.

Animals

The involvement of glucocorticoids in regulating the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and the synthesis of triacylglycerols in the liver. Effects of feeding rats with glucose, sorbitol, fructose, glycerol and ethanol.

Feeding rats with sorbitol, fructose, glycerol and ethanol increases the concentration of serum corticosterone without significantly altering the concentration of insulin. This increase appears to be partly responsible for the increases in the hepatic activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (compared with rats fed glucose or 0.9% NaCl) that has been reported [Sturton, Pritchard, Han & Brindley (1978) Biochem. J. 174, 667--670] and the enhanced capacity of the liver to synthesize triacylglycerols. The ethanol-induced increase in phosphohydrolase activity was largely, but not completely, prevented by adrenalectomy.

Animals

The effects of cortisol, corticotropin and thyroxine on the synthesis of glycerolipids and on the phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity in rat liver.

1. Male rats were injected daily for 5 days with 0.15m-NaCl, corticotropin, cortisol or l-thyroxine and the rates of glycerolipid synthesis were measured in the livers after intraportal injection of [(14)C]palmitate and [(3)H]glycerol. 2. Injection of all three hormones decreased the rates of body-weight gain. 3. Cortisol treatment increased the weight of the liver relative to body weight. 4. Thyroxine treatment increased the relative rate of triacylglycerol synthesis from [(3)H]glycerol and decreased the relative accumulation of (3)H and (14)C in diacylglycerol. It did not significantly alter the accumulation of these isotopes in phosphatidate nor the activity of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase in the total liver. However, this activity increased by 1.5-fold when expressed relative to the soluble protein of the liver. The increased triacylglycerol synthesis appears to be related to a general increase in the turnover of fatty acids in the liver. 5. Treatment with cortisol and corticotropin increased the relative rate of triacylglycerol synthesis from [(3)H]glycerol, decreased the accumulation of (3)H in phosphatidate and increased the flux of both isotopes from phosphatidate to diacylglycerol. This appeared to be caused by the increased activity of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase that was observed in the livers of the cortisol-treated rats. 6. It is proposed that cortisol could be directly or indirectly involved in increasing the activity of hepatic phosphatidate phosphohydrolase in starvation, diabetes, laparotomy, subtotal hepatectomy, liver damage, ethanol feeding and in obesity. This enzyme adaptation could contribute to the potential of the liver to increase its synthesis and accumulation of triacylglycerols or to secrete very-low-density lipoproteins.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone

The effect of dietary carbohydrate and fat on the activities of some enzymes responsible for glycerolipid synthesis in rat liver.

1. Male rats were fed for 14 days on diets containing (by wt.) 53% of starch, or on diets in which 20% of the starch was replaced by sucrose, corn oil or lard. 2. The hepatic activities of the microsomal glycerol phosphate acyltransferase, dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase, phosphatidate cytidylyltransferase, diacylglycerol acyltransferase and choline phosphotransferase, and of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, were measured. 3. The soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity was higher in those rats fed on lard than in those fed on the starch diet. Choline phosphotransferase activity was higher in the rats fed on corn oil than in those fed on the starch diet. 4. The rate of hepatic glycerolipid synthesis was measured in vivo 1 min after injection of [1,3-3H]glycerol and [1-14C]palmitate into the portal veins. 5. The relative rate of phosphatidylcholine synthesis in vivo was increased after feeding with corn oil and the higher specific activity of choline phosphotransferase may contribute to this result. The equivalent rate of triacylglycerol synthesis was increased by feeding with lard rather than corn oil, and the increased activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase may partly explain this. The latter changes probably contribute to the increased concentration of triacylglycerol which other authors have observed in the livers and sera of animals fed on saturated and monounsaturated fats.

Animals

The involvement of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and phospholipase A activities in the control of hepatic glycerolipid synthesis. Effects of acute feeding with glucose, fructose, sorbitol, glycerol and ethanol.

Rats were fed by stomach tube with a single dose of glucose, sorbitol, fructose, glycerol or ethanol of equivalent energy contents or with 0.15 M-NaCl. They were killed 6 h later and the relative rates of phosphatidate deacylation and dephosphorylation measured in the microsomal and supernatant fractions of the livers. Treatment with sorbitol, fructose, glycerol and ethanol increased phosphohydrolase activities in the microsomal and supernatant fractions. The only significant change in deacylase activity was an increase in the microsomal fraction produced by ethanol. It is proposed that hepatic triacylglycerol synthesis is partly controlled by the balance between phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and phospholipase A-type activities.

Animals

Problems encountered in measuring the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase.

The measurement of phosphate release from phosphatidate overestimates the microsomal activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase from rat liver, since phosphate is also produced via the glycerol phosphate that results from the deacylation of phosphatidate. The determination of phosphate production can be a reliable assay for the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase in rat liver, because the glycerol phosphate formed is not hydrolysed under the conditions used.

Animals

The effects of amphiphilic compounds on phosphatidate metabolism.

Amphiphilic cations interact with phosphatidate and thereby change its physical properties. This interaction can redirect phospholipid metabolism. In the presence of Mg2+ amphiphilic cations inhibit the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and stimulate that of phosphatidate cytidylyltransferase. Increasing the concentration of Mg2+ further, or adding Ca2+ have similar effects, except that Ca2+ does not stimulate phosphatidate cytidylyltransferase activity. Amphiphilic anions reverse the effects caused by the amphiphilic cations. The implication of these results are discussed in relation to the pharmacological effects of amphiphilic cationic drugs.

Animals

Some aspects of the physiological and pharmacological control of the synthesis of triacylglycerols and phospholipids.

The effects of dietary modification, starvation, stress and diabetes on the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase are discussed. Evidence is presented that this enzyme is involved in controlling the rate of triacylglycerol synthesis in the liver. Drugs such as fenfluramine and benfluorex are able to inhibit phosphatidate phosphohydrolase by interacting with the substrate. This decreases the rate of triacylglycerol synthesis and redirects the route of glycerolipid metabolism. Benfluroex also partly prevents the ethanol-induced increase in triacylglycerol synthesis and in phosphohydrolase activity. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the mode of action of fenfluramine and benfluorex and to the control of triacylglycerol synthesis.

Animals

The effect of chronic diabetes, induced by streptozotocin, on the activities of some enzymes of glycerolipid synthesis in rat liver.

1. Rats were injected with a single dose of 35mg of streptozotocin/kg body wt. They exhibited a diabetes that was characterized by glycosuria, polyuria, polydipsia, hyperphagia, hyperglycaemia, increased concentrations of unesterified fatty acids, glycerol and triacylglycerols in the serum and an increased activity of glucose 6-phosphatase in the liver. 2. After 10 weeks the hepatic activities of the microsomal glycerol phosphate acyltransferase, phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, phosphatidate cytidylyltransferase, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, choline phosphotransferase, CDP-diacylglycerol--inositol phosphatidyltransferase and the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase were measured. 3. The only significant changes were an increase in the activity of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and a decrease in that of the CDP-diacylglycerol--inositol phosphatidyltransferase in the diabetic rats. 4. These results are discussed in relation to the control of glycerolipid synthesis.

Acyltransferases

The effects of acute ethanol feeding and of chronic benfluorex administration on the activities of some enzymes of glycerolipid synthesis in rat liver and adipose tissue.

Rats were treated for 5 days with benfluorex [1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-[N-(2-benzoyloxyethyl)amino]propane] or with suspending medium (controls). They were then intubated with an acute intoxicating dose of ethanol or with glucose of equivalent energy content. Treatment of the control rats with ethanol specifically increases the hepatic activity of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase by about 5-fold in 6 h. The equivalent increase for the benfluorex-treated rats were about 2-fold. The results are discussed in relation to the effects of ethanol and benfluorex on glycerolipid synthesis.

Adipose Tissue

The effects of amphiphilic cationic drugs and inorganic cations on the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase.

1. Phosphatidate phosphohydrolase from the particle-free supernatant of rat liver was assayed by using emulsions of phosphatidate as substrate. 2. The inhibition of the phosphohydrolase by chlorpromazine was of a competitive type with respect to phosphatidate. The potency of various amphiphilic cationic drugs as inhibitors of this reaction was related to their partition coefficients into a phosphatidate emulsion. 3. The effect of chlorpromazine on the phosphohydrolase activity was complementary rather than antagonistic towards Mg2+. Chlorpromazine stimulated the phosphohydrolase activity in the absence of added Mg2+ and was able to replace the requirement for Mg2+. However, at optimum concentrations of Mg2+, chlorpromazine inhibited the reaction, as did Ca2+. The phosphohydrolase activity was also stimulated by Co2+ and to a lesser extent by Mn2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Ca2+, spermine and spermidine when Mg2+ was not added to the assays. 4. It is concluded that the inhibition of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase by amphiphilic cations can largely be explained by the interaction of these compounds with phosphatidate, which changes the physical properties of the lipid, making it less available for conversion into diacylglycerol. 5. The implications of these results to the effects of amphiphilic cations in redirecting glycerolipid synthesis at the level of phosphatidate are discussed.

Animals

Co-ordinate changes in enzymes of fatty acid synthesis, activation and esterification in rabbit mammary gland druing pregnancy and lactation.

1. The activities of fatty acid synthetase, acyl-CoA synthetase, glycerol phosphate acyltransferase and phosphatidate phosphatase were measured in the mammary glands of rabbits from day 16 of pregnancy to day 15 of post partum. 2. There were significant correlations between the increases in activities of these enzymes during this period. This was the case whether the activities were expressed per mg of homogenate protein, per g wet wt. of tissue or per total wet weight of the whole glands. The only exception was the lack of correlation between the activities of fatty acid synthetase and of phosphatidate phosphatase per g wet wt. of tissue. 3. These co-ordinate increases are discussed in relation to the changes which occur in fatty acid metabolism in the mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation.

Acyltransferases

Factors controlling the activities of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and phosphatidate cytidylyltransferase. The effects of chlorpromazine, demethylimipramine, cinchocaine, norfenfluramine, mepyramine and magnesium ions.

1. Microsomal membranes from rat liver were incubated with ATP, CoA, Mg2+, [14C]palmitate, F- and sn-glycerol 3-phosphate in order to label them with [14C]phosphatidate. These membranes were isolated and used in a second incubation in which [3H]CTP was present, and the simultaneous synthesis of [14C]diacylglycerol and [3H]CDP-diacylglycerol was measured. 2. The addition of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, which had been partially purified from the particle-free supernatant, supplemented the activity of the endogenous phosphohydrolase, but it did not alter the rate of CDP-diacylglycerol formation. 3. Adding EDTA inhibited phosphatidate cytidylyl-transferase activity and stimulated the activity of the phosphohydrolases by removing excess of Mg2+. 4. Increasing the concentration of Mg2+, norfenfluramine or chlorpromazine in the assay system stimulated cytidylyltransferase activity, but decreased the activities of both phosphohydrolases. 5. The mechanism for the stimulation of cytidylyl=transferase activity by the cationic drugs and Mg2+ was investigated with emulsions of phosphatidate and the microsomal fraction of rat liver. 6. There was a threshold concentration of about 5mM-MgCl2 below which no cytidylyltransferase activity was detected in the presence or absence of norfenfluramine. Just above this threshold concentration norfenfluramine stimulated cytidylyltransferase activity, but this stimulation disappeared as the Mg2+ concentration was raised to its optimum of 20mM. Norfenfluramine therefore partially replaced the bivalent-cation requirement. 7. At 30 mM-MgCl2 amphiphilic cationic drugs inhibited cytidylyltransferase activity at relatively high concentrations in a non-competitive manner with respect to phosphatidate. 8. The implications of these results are discussed with respect to the regulation of the synthesis of the acidic phospholipids compared with the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and triacylglycerol.

Animals