Anomalies Of Liver And Plasma Triglyceride And Phospholipid Fatty Acid Pattern In Streptozotocin (Type 1) And Goto-Kakizaki (Type 2) Diabetic Rats
 

Willy J.Malaisse^1,2*,Ying Zhang¹, Berrin Oguzhan¹,
Karim Louchami¹, Hassan Jijakli¹, Philippe Courtois¹,
Abdullah Sener¹, Laurence Portois², Yvon A.Carpentier^2
1Laboratories of ¹Experimental Hormonology and ²Surgery, Brussels Free University,
808 Route de Lennik, B-1070 Brussels, (BELGIUM)

Adult rats injected with streptozotocin (STZ) a few days before investigation and Goto-Kakizaki rats (GK) are currently used as animal models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, respectively. The major aim of the present study was to compare plasma and liver fatty acid content and pattern in triglycerides and phospholipids of these two types of diabetic rats. The fatty acid content and pattern of plasma unesterified fatty acids, triglycerides and phospholipids were compared to those of liver triglycerides and phospholipids in fed or overnight fasted female normal rats and both male and female Goto-Kakizaki rats and in fed female rats injected 3 days before sacrifice with streptozotocin. A number of changes in lipid fatty acid content and pattern were indeed observed as a function of such factors as nutritional status, gender, prevalence and type of diabetes. Emphasis is also placed on the differences in lipid fatty acid pattern between liver and adipose tissue, brain and spleen. Significant correlations were found between the individual values for the plasma and liver content of phospholipids in either C20:53 or C22:63. In addition to providing extensive information on the fatty acid content and pattern of plasma and liver lipids in normal rats and in either type 1 or type 2 diabetic rats, the present study indicates that the measurements performed in plasma phospholipids may provide reliable information on the fatty acid composition of cellular phospholipids.