Intestinal lipoprotein production is stimulated by an acute elevation of plasma free fatty acids in the fasting state: studies in insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitized Syrian golden hamsters.

It is not known whether intestinal lipoprotein production is stimulated by an acute elevation of plasma free fatty acids (FFA). We examined the effect of an intralipid and heparin infusion on the intestinal lipoprotein production rate (PR) in insulin-sensitive [chow-fed (CHOW)], insulin-resistant [60% fructose (FRUC) or 60% fat-fed (FAT)], and insulin-sensitized [FRUC or FAT plus rosiglitazone (RSG)-treated] Syrian Golden hamsters. After 5 wk of treatment, overnight-fasted hamsters underwent in vivo Triton WR-1339 studies for measurement of apolipoprotein B48 (apoB48) PR in large (Svedberg unit, >400) and small (Svedberg unit, 100-400) lipoprotein fractions, with an antecedent 90-min infusion of 20% intralipid and heparin (IH) to raise plasma FFA levels approximately 5- to 8-fold vs. those in the saline control study. IH markedly increased apoB48 PR in CHOW by 3- to 5-fold, which was confirmed ex vivo in pulse-chase experiments in primary cultured hamster enterocytes. Oleate, but not glycerol, infusion was associated with a similar elevation of apoB48 PR as IH. In FRUC and FAT, basal (saline control) apoB48 PR was approximately 4-fold greater than that in CHOW; there was no additional stimulation with IH in vivo and only minimal additional stimulation ex vivo. RSG partially normalized basal apoB48 PR in FAT and FRUC, and PR was markedly stimulated with IH. We conclude that intestinal lipoprotein production is markedly stimulated by an acute elevation of plasma FFAs in insulin-sensitive hamsters, in which basal production is low, but minimally in insulin-resistant hamsters, in which basal production is already elevated. With RSG treatment, basal PR is partially normalized, and they become more susceptible to the acute FFA stimulatory effect.