Diabetes reduces heparin- and phospholipase C-releasable lipoprotein lipase from cardiomyocytes.

Incubation of isolated cardiac myocytes from rat hearts with heparin or phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PLC) resulted in the release of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) into the medium. The release of LPL by the combination of heparin and PLC was not additive, and preincubation of cardiac myocytes with heparin eliminated the release of LPL in a subsequent incubation with PLC. This evidence suggests that LPL may be bound ionically to heparan sulfate proteoglycans that are covalently linked to the cell surface of cardiac myocytes by a phosphatidylinositol-glycan membrane anchor; a second pool of LPL may also be bound to proteoglycans attached directly to the myocardial cell surface. The induction of diabetes by the administration of streptozotocin (100 mg/kg for 3-4 days) to rats resulted in a decrease in the initial cellular activity of LPL and a marked reduction in the heparin-induced secretion of LPL into the medium of cardiac myocytes. The intravenous administration of insulin (5 U for 1 h) in diabetic rats reversed the effects of diabetes on cellular and heparin-releasable LPL activities. Diabetes also reduced the PLC-induced release of LPL. The reduction in the release of LPL from diabetic cardiac myocytes could result in a decrease in functional LPL activity at the capillary endothelium of whole hearts.