The effect of chronic fatty acid treatment on lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

Various saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were included in the culture medium to test their effects on lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Following prolonged incubation, only oleate was found to exert enhancing effect on basal and isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis. The effect of oleate was concentration-dependent and was accompanied with increased intracellular cAMP content. Furthermore, the lipolytic response induced by isobutyl-methylxanthine, forskolin or dibutyryl cAMP was also increased in adipocytes treated with oleate. Thus, it appears that in addition to an increased cAMP accumulation, a step distal to cAMP production in the cells may be involved in inducing enhanced lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by prolonged exposure to oleate.