The glyceride fatty acid composition and lipid content of brown and white adipose tissue of the hibernator Citellus lateralis

✍ Scribed by W. A. Spencer; E. I. Grodums; G. Dempster

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1966
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 803 KB
• Volume: 67
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9541
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.1040670308

✦ Synopsis

Glyceride and total phosphatide levels of brown and white fat of Citellus lateralis have been followed throughout the year in biopsy samples.

Extraction of the glycerides for fatty acid analysis is described. As much as 20% of the phosphatide of brown fat was found in the upper fat layer of a centrifuged tissue homogenate. This phosphatide appeared to be present as a low-density lipoprotein, and may be associated with the lipid globules of the intact cell.

Glyceride and phosphatide levels varied considerably in brown fat, and no particular level was consistently observed to be associated with any part of the hibernation cycle. Fatty acid composition of the glycerides also varied widely. The degree of unsaturation was not related to the hibernation cycle, although there appeared to be a differential utilization of fatty acids during a few weeks prior to spring arousal.

A decrease in tissue glyceride levels was observed in both brown and white fat during arousal from hibernation at 2"C, the loss from brown fat being double the loss from white fat.