Comparison of the effects of the growth factor produced by Spirometra mansonoides and growth hormone in diabetic-hypophysectomized rats: lipid composition.

The effects of bovine growth hormone and the growth factor produced by plerocercoid larvae of the tapeworm, Spirometra mansonoides, on body growth and lipid composition in diabetic-hypophysectomized rats were compared. The diabetic-hypophysectomized control rats gradually lost weight throughout the experiment but both growth hormone and plerocercoids stimulated marked weight gains. Growth hormone treatment resulted in a loss of depot fat from the epididymal fat pads and caused a reduction of liver and serum cholesterol concentrations but had no effect on triglyceride concentrations of either liver or serum. However, plerocercoid infection resulted in increased weights of the epididymal fat pads and increased liver and serum triglyceride concentrations. Serum cholesterol was slightly increased but liver cholesterol was decreased in the plerocercoid-infected rats. Therefore, in the absence of pituitary hormones and insulin, these growth factors had similar effects on body growth but distinctly different effects on lipid metabolism.