Physiological changes in the activities of extramitochondrial acetyl-CoA hydrolase in the liver of rats under various metabolic conditions.

Significant increase in the activity of an acetyl-CoA hydrolase (ATP-stimulated, ADP-inhibited enzyme) in the supernatant fraction of rat liver was observed after 44-68 h of starvation (about 2-fold), and in the early stage of diabetes (about 1.6-fold), but not in the chronic stage of diabetes. The increased enzymatic activity in starved rats returned to the control level within 20 h when the animals were given laboratory chow, but not when they were given fat-free diet with a high carbohydrate content, and the enzyme activity was increased by the latter diet containing 1% thyroid powder. A single intraperitoneal injection of 3,3'5-triiodo-L-thyronine or 3,3',5,5'-tetraiodo-L-thyronine resulted in twice the normal enzyme activity two days later, and conversely 7 days after thyroidectomy, the enzyme activity was about 60% of the control level. A single subcutaneous injection of alpha-(p-chlorophenoxy)isobutyric acid, a hypolipidemic drug, doubled the enzyme activity in euthyroid rats, but not in thyroidectomized rats. Of the various tissues tested besides the liver, only the kidney had detectable ATP-stimulated and ADP-inhibited enzyme activity (5% of the activity in liver cytosol). The kidney enzyme had similar kinetic and immunochemical properties to the liver enzyme. Changes in the enzyme activity in the liver in various states were closely related to the amount of enzyme present, judging from results obtained by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The physiological role of this enzyme (which hydrolyzes acetyl-CoA to acetate and CoASH) may be in maintenance of the cytosolic acetyl-CoA concentration and CoASH pool for both fatty acid synthesis and oxidation.