Starvation enhances lipoprotein lipase activity in the liver of the newborn rat.

To determine to what extent lipoprotein lipase activity in the liver of the newborn rat depends on milk ingestion, its changes were studied during different nutritional conditions. Newborns were placed with nurse rats with or without ligated nipples and they were killed at 0,8 or 24 h of life. Lipoprotein lipase in newborns liver was characterized by its inhibition in the presence of 1.0 M NaCl, its specific elution at 1.5 M NaCl on heparin-Sepharose 4B column and its requirement for serum in the assay mixture to manifest its activity. In fed animals lipoprotein lipase activity and triacylglycerol content in liver as well as circulating triacylglycerols and ketone bodies increased progressively after birth. When newborns were kept starved the change in enzyme activity was significantly enhanced, whereas the increase found after birth in the other parameters disappeared. Starvation produced reduction in circulating RIA-insulin levels in the newborn rats. Results show that liver lipoprotein lipase activity in the newborn rat is controlled by a mechanism which resembles that of the enzyme in the adult heart and indicate that its presence facilitates the uptake by the liver of fatty acids from circulating triacylglycerols for their oxidation rather than deposit.