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β ‐Carotene is incorporated or mobilized along with triglycerides in bovine adipose tissue in response to insulin or epinephrine
Author(s) -
Arias E.,
González A.,
Shimada A.,
VarelaEchavarria A.,
RuizLópez F.,
During A.,
Mora O.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1439-0396
pISSN - 0931-2439
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2007.00783.x
Subject(s) - endocrinology , medicine , explant culture , adipose tissue , insulin , epinephrine , beta (programming language) , beta carotene , hormone , biology , triglyceride , chemistry , in vitro , vitamin , biochemistry , cholesterol , computer science , programming language
Summary Pasture fed cattle ingest substantial amounts of β ‐carotene ( β ‐C). Not all of the carotenoid compound is transformed into vitamin A, but the surplus is deposited in adipose tissue (AT). The mechanisms of β ‐C incorporation and mobilization are unknown. Two experiments were conducted using explants from bovine AT cultured in vitro . First, β ‐C incorporation by explants from three animals was examined with different β ‐C concentrations (0, 1, 5 and 20 μ m ) and different times of incubation (every 5 h up to 25 h). The data showed a significant increase of β ‐C concentration in explants only for 20 μ m β ‐C. Secondly, effects of insulin and epinephrine on β ‐C and triglyceride (TG) contents of explants were studied. Explants from six animals were incubated with either hormone and 0 or 20 μ m β ‐C for 20 h. Both TG and β ‐C contents were affected positively by insulin and negatively by epinephrine. Interestingly, changes in ratios of β ‐C/TG (hormone vs. control) were similar (1.7 × 10 −3 and 1.8 × 10 −3 ), respectively, for insulin and epinephrine, indicating that β ‐C level is directly related to TG content. We also report the presence of mRNA for β ‐C 15, 15′ oxygenase in bovine AT. The in vitro culture system using explants from bovine AT is a promising model to investigate factors that might affect the accumulation and metabolism of β ‐C.