Abstract
Male Wistar rats were fitted with subcutaneous osmotic mini-pumps that delivered insulin at a constant rate of 0.20 i.u./h for 7 days. This treatment raised the plasma insulin concentration from 31 +/- 4 to 201 +/- 64 micro-i.u./ml. Hepatocytes prepared from the hyperinsulinaemic animals secreted very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) triacylglycerol (TAG) at a higher rate (172 +/- 21 microgram per 24 h per mg cell protein) than did those from sham-operated controls (109 +/- 12 microgram per 24 h per mg) (P<0.05). However, chronic exogenous hyperinsulinaemia had no stimulatory effect on the secretion of VLDL apolipoprotein B (apoB) in derived hepatocytes compared with those from the sham-operated controls (2.32 +/- 0.38 compared with 3.09 +/- 0.40 microgram per 24 h per mg). Hepatocytes from the hyperinsulinaemic rats thus secreted larger VLDL particles as evidenced by the increased TAG:apoB ratio (78.4 +/- 13.1 compared with 38.4 +/- 7.6; P<0.05). In hepatocytes from the hyperinsulinaemic rats a larger proportion of the newly synthesized TAG was secreted as VLDL. Hepatocytes from the hyperinsulinaemic and the sham-operated control animals were equally sensitive to the inhibitory effect of insulin added in vitro on the secretion of VLDL TAG. Insulin added in vitro to the culture medium of hepatocytes from hyperinsulinaemic animals significantly decreased the TAG:apoB ratio of the secreted VLDL. This change did not occur in hepatocytes from sham-operated rats. These results suggest that, in vivo, chronic hyperinsulinaemia is not in itself sufficient to desensitize the liver to the acute inhibitory effect of insulin on the secretion of VLDL.