Chronic alpha 1-adrenergic blockade, serum triacylglycerols, and tissue lipoprotein lipase activity in rats fed diets high in starch or sucrose.

This study was designed to assess the individual and interactive effects of types of dietary carbohydrate and of chronic alpha 1-adrenergic blockade on some of the determinants of triacylglycerol metabolism in the rat. Specifically, dietary starch and sucrose were given chronically, with or without prazosin mixed with the diet. Serum lipid concentrations and the activity of lipoprotein lipase in several tissues were evaluated 3 h after a voluntary meal consisting of a diet that has been consumed chronically. Postprandial serum triacylglycerol levels were significantly higher (88%, P less than 0.05) after the ingestion of a meal high in sucrose than after a meal high in starch. Prazosin interacted significantly with dietary carbohydrates (P less than 0.03), in that the blocker did not affect triacylglycerol levels in starch-fed rats but greatly diminished their concentration in sucrose-fed animals. Postprandial measurement of lipoprotein lipase in epididymal white adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue, and vastus lateralis muscle showed that enzyme activity in these specific tissues was not affected by the type of dietary carbohydrate. Prazosin significantly decreased lipoprotein lipase activity in brown adipose tissue regardless of the diet, but it did not affect enzyme activity in the other tissues evaluated. These findings demonstrate that the influence of alpha 1-adrenergic blockade on triacylglycerol metabolism can be modulated by dietary components. They further suggest that, in the postprandial state, prazosin did not affect triacylglycerol concentrations by modulating total tissue activity of lipoprotein lipase, at least in the organs that were probed in this study.