Lipogenesis and adipose tissue cellularity in steers switched from alfalfa hay to high concentrate diets.

An experiment was conducted to 1) evaluate the effects of diet (alfalfa hay vs high concentrate) on adipose tissue cellularity and rates of in vitro lipogenesis and 2) determine if there was a relationship between in vitro lipogenic rates from acetate and lactate and rates of L- or D-lactate disappearance from plasma. Number of adipose cells/g of tissue decreased with time on experiment; however, hay-fed steers had fewer, but larger cells/g of subcutaneous adipose tissue compared with concentrate-fed steers (.78 +/- .04 vs 1.20 +/- .13 X 10(-6)/g, respectively). These results, however, are likely due to a higher (approximately 25%) intake of dry matter and metabolizable energy by the hay-fed steers. Carcass data obtained at slaughter (460 kg) indicated that the concentrate-fed steers had as much or more adipose tissue compared with the hay-fed steers. Characteristics describing D- or L-lactate disappearance from plasma were not highly correlated with lactate utilization for fatty acid synthesis. Utilization of acetate as a substrate for fatty acid synthesis in vitro was correlated (r = .64) with the rate of lactate utilization for fatty acid synthesis.