A computational model of postprandial adipose tissue lipid metabolism derived using human arteriovenous stable isotope tracer data

In this study, we use arte riovenous measurement across the subcutaneous adipose tissue during a mixed meal challenge test to evaluate the performance and underlying assumptions of three existing models of adipose tissue metabolism and construct a new, refined model of adipose tissue metabolism. Our model introduces new terms , explicitly accounting for the conversion of glucose to glyceraldehye-3-phosphate, the postprandial influx of glycerol into the adipose tissue, and several physiologically relevant delays in insulin signalling in order to better describe the measured adipose tissues fluxes. We then applied our refi ned model to human adipose tissue flux data collected before and after a diet intervention as part of the Yoyo study, to quantify the effects of caloric restriction on postprandial adipose tissue metabolism. Significant increases were observed in the model parameters describing the rate of uptake an d release of both glycerol and NEFA. Additionally, decreases in the model’s delay in insulin signalling parameters indicates there is an improvement in adipose tissue insulin sensitivity following caloric restriction.
Source: PLoS Computational Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research