Studies on lipolysis in human adipose cells.

Epinephrine stimulated lipolysis and the uptake of oxygen by subcutaneous adipose cells of man. When glucose-(14)C was present in the medium, its utilization was not increased by epinephrine, although lipolysis was accelerated. Insulin did not reduce the production of fatty acids that had been stimulated by epinephrine. The combination of human growth hormone and cortisol stimulated the production of fatty acids by isolated human adipose cells to a lesser extent than epinephrine. When human growth hormone or cortisol was used singly, or when bovine growth hormone was added in combination with cortisol, no effect on fatty acid production was observed. Furthermore, an acetone-dried preparation of human pituitary glands, which was shown to stimulate lipolysis in rat adipose cells, had no effect on fatty acid formation in human adipose cells. This suggested that the human pituitary gland contained no more potent lipolytic agents than growth hormone and was supported by the lack of response of human adipose cells to purified corticotropin.