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Further Studies on the Role of the Adrenal Hormones in the Responses of Rats to Meal-Feeding¹

Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, 42nd and Dewey Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68105 and Veterans Administration Hospital, 4101 Woolworth Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68105

The importance of the adrenal hormones in the lipogenic responses to meal-feeding or starvation-refeeding was studied. In experiment 1, intact or adrenalectomized (ADX) rats were either ad libitum-fed or meal-fed a 65% glucose diet for 21 days or until moribund (ADX rats only). Serum glucose and electrolytes (Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Na⁺, K⁺), hepatic glycogen and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and malic enzyme (ME) were determined. ADX rats died within 10 days after the initiation of meal-feeding and were hypoglycemic with low liver glycogen levels and low enzyme activities. No differences in serum electrolytes were observed. In the second experiment, ADX and intact rats of varying initial weights were weight paired and meal-fed. When the ADX rat died, his intact control was killed and both carcasses assayed for fat content. Heavier rats with presumably more carcass fat survived meal-feeding longer than the lighter rats. Rats died when they had lost all but 2 to 3 g carcass lipid. In experiments 3 and 4, ADX and intact rats were subjected to starvation-refeeding. In experiment 4, additional ADX groups were given supplemental doses of cortisol (0.75 mg/kg, subcutaneous, 2 times daily) during either the starvation period, the refeeding period or during both periods. The activities of hepatic G6PD and ME were determined as well as the levels of liver lipid in experiment 4. Intact starved-refed rats had the usual enzyme overshoot, whereas ADX starved-refed rats did not. Cortisoltreated ADX starved-refed rats had as great an enzyme overshoot as the intact rats and as great an increase in liver lipid. These results suggest that ADX rats die when meal-fed the glucose diet, because they are unable to store sufficient metabolic fucl for use during the starvation phase of the meal-feeding cycle. Further, the results show that glucocorticoids are required for the induction of de novo enzyme synthesis.

KEY WORDS: • cortisol • meal-feeding • starvation-refeeding • enzymes • glycogen

¹ A preliminary report of these data was presented at the 60th annual FASEB meeting in Anahelm, California, April 1976.

Manuscript received 22 April 1976.