The effect of lowered environmental temperature on lipid metabolism in rats fed on normal and high-fat, high-cholesterol diets

Abstract

1. Prolonged intermittent exposure to reduced environmental temperature (+2°) produced in rats given a nutritionally well-balanced diet a decrease in the concentration of esterified fatty acids in the blood serum, liver and epididymal fat tissue. In the last there was a significant increase in the unesterified: esterified fatty acid ratio. The hepatic synthesis of fatty acids from [1–14C]acetate remained unchanged. A decrease in the concentration of cholesterol was found in the blood serum, liver and lungs of animals exposed to cold.2. When a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet was given, exposure to cold increased the mobilization of lipids; this was indicated by the elevation of the unesterified fatty acid levels in the blood serum and in the epididymal fat tissue. In rats given the high-fat diet the lipotropic action of cold on the liver was confirmed. This action was characterized by a decrease of esterified fatty acid levels and by an increase of glycogen concentration in the liver. This effect is probably due to a lowering of hepatic lipogenesis and to increased oxidation of fatty acids in the liver tissue. In rats given the high-fat dict, cold exposure produced an increased cholesterol accumulation in the tissues and more pronounced morphological changes in the myocardium.