Regulation of hepatic lipogenic enzyme gene expression by diet quantity in rats fed a fat-free, high carbohydrate diet.

This investigation concerns the effects of the level of intake of a high carbohydrate diet on transcriptional rate, mRNA concentration and enzyme induction for lipogenic enzymes in rat liver. Six hours after refeeding fasted rats, the transcriptional rates in livers reached low maximum levels with small quantities of diet, but the mRNA concentrations continued to increase as diet intake increased. Greater diet intake primarily increased transcriptional rates and mRNA concentrations of lipogenic enzymes. After refeeding for 16 h, the mRNA concentrations were sigmoidly increased relative to the diet quantity and reached maximum levels of 20-, 110-, 22- and 16-fold above each fasted level for acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase, malic enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, respectively. After 3 d of refeeding (in a steady state of lipogenic enzyme activities), however, the transcriptional rates, mRNA concentrations and activity inductions of all the enzymes were sigmoidly increased relative to diet quantity, but were not different among the enzymes. Consequently, fatty acid synthesis and triglyceride levels in the liver were not increased by feeding less than 70% of ad libitum intake but were greatly increased by feeding greater than 70% of ad libitum intake.