Refeeding meal-fed rats increases lipoprotein lipase activity and deposition of dietary [14C]lipid in white adipose tissue and decreases oxidation to 14CO2. The role of undernutrition.

Meal-fed (3 h) rats had a decreased food intake, body weight and carcass fat compared with rats fed ad libitum. On refeeding a chow meal containing [1-14C]triolein, the production of 14CO2 was lower (45%) and the accumulation of carcass [14C]lipid higher (37%) in the meal-fed rats. There was higher lipoprotein lipase activity and greater accumulation of [14C]lipid in the epididymal and subcutaneous adipose-tissue depots of the meal-fed rats. In contrast, heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase was not increased in perfused hearts of meal-fed rats on refeeding. Return of meal-fed rats to feeding ad libitum reversed these changes before the restoration of body weight or carcass fat. Evidence is presented that decreased dietary intake rather than meal pattern is an important determinant of the alterations in adipose lipid metabolism in the meal-fed rat in response to a meal.