Effects of weight loss and weight maintenance on the serum lipids, lipoprotein lipase and hepatic triglyceride lipase activities in obese rats

The effects of obesity, weight loss and weight maintenance on the serum lipid levels and lipoprotein lipase and hepatic triglyceride lipase were investigated in rats. Obesity induced by high-fat (HF) feeding was associated with decreased serum triglyceride levels (HF: 70.3 ± 8.2, control (CON): 140.0 ± 26.9 mg/dl, P < 0.05), increased lipoprotein lipase (LPL, HF: 593.2 ± 10.6 vs CON: 280 ± 19.5 nmol/ FFA/min per mg tissue, P < 0.05) and suppressed hepatic triglyceride lipase activities (HTGL, HF: 14.2 ± 0.5 vs CON: 18.0 ± 0.4 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue, P < 0.01). After a weight loss to the level of control rats, weight maintenance was achieved either by high-protein (HP) or chow feedings (CH). Both high-protein (HFHP) and chow (HFCH) groups had similar weights but only high-protein feeding restored the normal body compositions. Both groups of rats had higher total (TC, HFHP: 146 ± 10.7 ; HFCH: 104.8 ± 5.1 mg/dl), and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (HDL-C, HFHP: 100.8 ± 15.6; HFCH: 75.5 ± 5.5 mg/dl) and lower lipoprotein lipase (HFHP: 238.2 ± 15.8, HFCH: 354.8 ± 34.9 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue) and hepatic triglyceride activities (HFHP: 16.3 ± 1.1; HFCH: 14.5 ± 0.6 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue) than control rats (TC: 70.1 ± 4.7 mg/dl; HDL-C: 14.2 ± 4.3 mg/dl; LPL: 742.4 ± 82.3 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue; HTGL: 20.5 ± 1.0 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue, P < 0.05 to 0.005) or the rats who regained weight by resuming high-fat feeding (TC: 59.5 ± 6.7 mg/dl; HDL-C: 10.2 ± 6.7 mg/dl; LPL: 1284.3 ± 90 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue; HTGL: 22.2 ± 1.9 nmol FFA/min per mg tissue, P < 0.05 to 0.005). The high protein-group had significantly higher total and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol levels than the chow fed animals despite comparable body weights in both groups. The findings of this study suggest that weight maintenance induced by high protein feeding is more successful in restoring the normal body composition. However, high protein feeding is also associated with high serum cholesterol levels. The clinical applications of these findings need to be evaluated further.