Antiobesity effects of dehydroepiandrosterone are mediated by futile substrate cycling in hepatocytes of BHE/cdb rats.

This study investigated the hypothesis that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) functions as an antiobesity agent by promoting energy wastage via hepatic substrate cycling in prediabetic male BHE/cdb rats. Weanling BHE/cdb rats fed a 65% glucose diet were injected intraperitoneally daily with either DHEA (0.35 mol/kg body wt) or vehicle (1 mL/kg body wt) for 7 wk. The DHEA treatment significantly (P less than 0.05) reduced body weight gain. The DHEA-treated rats had epididymal and retroperitoneal fat pads that were 40% and 66% lighter, respectively, than those of control rats. The residual carcasses (i.e., minus fat pads, liver and ingesta) of DHEA-treated rats contained a significantly lower percentage of fat than those of control rats. The DHEA treatment significantly reduced fasting serum glucose and triglycerides without affecting total or HDL cholesterol. Isolated hepatocytes from DHEA-treated rats converted 2.5 times as much [U-14C]glucose to 14CO2 and one-half as much alanine to glucose as did hepatocytes from control rats. The DHEA treatment increased the specific activities of malic enzyme and lactate dehydrogenase 4.0- and 1.8-fold, respectively. Hepatocytes from DHEA-treated rats tended (P less than 0.08) to have lower phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activities than hepatocytes from control rats. These data suggest that DHEA treatment exerts some of its antiobesity and antidiabetic effects in prediabetic, lipemic BHE/cdb rats by promoting hepatic glucose oxidation and reducing gluconeogenesis.