Abstract
Summary
After preincubation with dexamethasone (0.016 μg/ml) and growth hormone (1 μg/ml), segments of epididymal fat were tested for sensitivity to the lipolytic effects of epinephrine. When the data from the entire group of 36 rats were pooled and analyzed, it appeared that dexamethasone and growth hormone significantly increased basal lipolysis, but had no significant effect on epinephrine-induced lipolysis. Tissues from only 13 of the 36 rats had increased basal lipolysis of the order of twofold or greater. When the data from these rats were pooled, it appeared that pretreatment with dexamethasone and growth hormone actually reduced lipolysis in response to 0.001 μg/ml of epinephrine and had no effect on higher concentrations of epinephrine. Pooling the data from the remaining 23 rats indicated that the preincubation procedure did not increase basal lipolysis, but significantly increased lipolysis in response to 0.001 and 0.01 μg/ml of epinephrine. The difference in the response of the two groups of rats cannot be attributed to inhibitors present in the albumin solution.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.