Changes in lipid metabolism and β-adrenergic response of adipose tissues of periparturient dairy cows affected by an energy-dense diet and nicotinic acid supplementation

Dairy cattle will mobilize large amounts of body fat during early lactation as an effect of decreased lipogenesis and increased lipolysis. Regulation of lipid metabolism involves fatty acid synthesis from acetate and β-adrenergic-stimulated phosphorylation of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and perilipin in adipocytes. Although basic mechanisms of mobilizing fat storage in transition cows are understood, we lack a sufficiently detailed understanding to declare the exact regulatory network of these in a broad range of dairy cattle. The objective of the present study was to quantify 1) protein abundance of fatty acid synthase (FAS), 2) extent of phosphorylation of HSL and perilipin in vivo, and 3) β-adrenergic stimulated lipolytic response of adipose tissues in vitro at different stages of the periparturient period. We fed 20 German Holstein cows an energy-dense or an energetically adequate diet prepartum and 0 or 24 g/d nicotinic acid (NA) supplementation. Biopsy samples of subcutaneous and retroperitoneal adipose tissue were obtained at d 42 prepartum (d −42) and at d 1, 21, and 100 postpartum (d +1, d +21, d +100, respectively). To assess β-adrenergic response, tissue samples were incubated with 1 μM isoproterenol for 90 min at 37°C. The NEFA and glycerol release, as well as HSL and perilipin phosphorylation, was measured as indicators of in vitro stimulated lipolysis. In addition, protein expression of FAS and extent of HSL and perilipin phosphorylation were measured in fresh, nonincubated samples. There was no effect of dietary energy density or NA on the observed variables. The extent of HSL and perilipin phosphorylation under isoproterenol stimulation was strongly correlated with the release of NEFA and glycerol, consistent with the functional link between β-adrenergic-stimulated protein phosphorylation and lipolysis. In the nonincubated samples, FAS protein expression was decreased at d +1 and d +21, whereas HSL and perilipin phosphorylation increased from d −42 to d +1 and remained at an increased level throughout the first 100 d of lactation. In vitro lipolytic response was significant in prepartum samples at times when in vivo lipolysis was only minimally activated by phosphorylation. These data extend our understanding of the complex nature of control of lipolysis and lipogenesis in dairy cows and could be useful to the ongoing development of systems biology models of metabolism to help improve our quantitative knowledge of the cow.