Response of rat hepatic fatty acid synthesis and activities of related enzymes to changes in level of dietary fat.

The rate of in vivo fatty acid synthesis as well as the levels of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), malic enzyme (ME), citrate cleavage enzyme (CCE), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACX) and fatty acid synthetase (FAS) activities, have been studied in the liver of rats fed a fat-free diet for 7 days, followed by diets containing different amounts of soybean oil (0 to 24.79 kcal%) for 7 days. The dietary fat depressed activities of G6PD, 6PGD, ME, CCE, and FAS significantly at 1.24 or 2.48 kcal%. On the other hand, AC activity and the rate of fatty acid synthesis were decreased when the level of dietary fat was 12.39 kcal% or greater. These findings, as well as the pattern of decrement of enzyme activities and of lipogenesis, suggest a close correlation of fat feeding to ACX activity and fatty acid synthesis. The results also suggest that changes of G6PD, 6PGD, ME, CCE, and FAS activities may be largely independent of those modifications which occur in the substrate flux, concomitantly with the decrease of lipogenesis caused by the inclusion of fat in the diet.