Adrenalectomy in the Zucker fatty rat: effect on m-RNA for malic enzyme and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

The effects of adrenalectomy with or without replacement doses of corticosterone were examined on the levels of messenger RNA for malic enzyme (ME) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in adipose tissue and liver from Zucker fatty (fa/fa) and littermate lean rats. The levels of both GAPDH and ME mRNAs were increased in the obese rats. Adrenalectomy markedly reduced the m-RNA for GAPDH and ME in Zucker fatty rats to the low levels observed in adrenalectomized lean rats. Corticosterone treatment induced a greater and earlier increase in mRNA levels in adrenalectomized obese rats than in adrenalectomized lean rats. Since the fatty rat represents an autosomal recessive trait, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the genetic defect is a loss of a modulator of steroid action which normally restricts the response of genes to glucorticoid hormones.