NO CORRELATION BETWEEN CHANGES IN FATTY-ACID-BINDING PROTEIN-CONTENT AND FATTY-ACID OXIDATION CAPACITY OF RAT-TISSUES IN EXPERIMENTAL DIABETES

Fatty acid-binding protein is considered to play an important role in fatty acid oxidation. Since diabetes mellitus causes marked changes of this latter metabolic process, we compared the effect of this patholo gical condition on both parameters in a comparative investigation of d ifferent rat tissues. Palmitate oxidation capacity and content of fatt y acid-binding protein were determined in liver, heart and quadriceps muscle from rats with 2-week streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and controls. In liver homogenates fatty acid oxidation capacity incre ased by 90%, but their content of fatty acid-binding protein decreased by 35%. Fatty acid oxidation capacity of heart and quadriceps muscle and fatty acid-binding protein content of quadriceps muscle did not ch ange, but fatty acid-binding protein content of heart muscle doubled. Long-term diabetes (8 months) had a similar effect on content of this protein. In summary, changes of fatty acid oxidation capacity do not a ppear to correlate with fatty acid-binding protein content during the development of diabetes. This does not preclude other functions of fat ty acid-binding proteins in regulation of lipid metabolism and process es in which fatty acids play a modulatory role. Copyright (C) 1996 Els evier Science Ltd.