[Activities of various enzymes in brown fat tissue of rabbits in the pre- and post-natal period].

Newborn rabbits have mainly brown or multilocular fat tissue. The activity of G-6-PDH shows a prenatal decrease. The G-6-PDH activity is clearly lower in postnatal as compared to the fetal period. This is due to the minor role of fatty acid synthesis with reduced fat storage during this time. The high capacity of glycolysis becomes apparent by the high activity of hexokinase and lactate dehydrogenase. The activity of both enzymes, however, shows only slight postnatal changes, so that HK and LDH in contrast to pyruvate kinase in the postnatal period apparently have no regulatory effect. The altogether high activity of the NADP specific isocitrate dehydrogenase indicates the high turnover rates in the Krebs cycle and suggests the adjustment of the metabolism to a high energy turnover.