Acetate-1-C¹⁴ metabolism of white fat from hamsters in cold exposure and hibernation

¹ Biology Department, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Incorporation of C¹⁴ from acetate-1-C¹⁴ into lipid and CO₂ by epididymal fat from golden hamsters kept at room temperature, acclimated to 5 ± 1 C, in hibernation and arousing from hibernation, was measured in vitro at 37 C. Summer and winter series were compared. The C¹⁴O₂ production by tissue from control and acclimated animals was similar but the C¹⁴O₂ production of tissue from hibernating and arousing hamsters was significantly greater than that from acclimated animals. There was a large increase in the lipid-C¹⁴ of tissue from cold-acclimated animals and this increase persisted into hibernation but was slightly depressed in tissue from arousing animals. Many acclimated and all hibernating hamsters had involuted testes and a greater incorporation of C¹⁴ into lipid than those with noninvoluted testes. A greater percentage of hamsters hibernated in the cold room during the winter and at this time the incorporation of C¹⁴ into lipid by the fat pad was greater than in the summer.

Key Words: seasonal variations in lipid metabolism • white adipose tissue • gonadal activity and lipid metabolism • acclimation • lipogenesis

Submitted on December 10, 1962