Differential effects of fenofibrate or simvastatin treatment of rats on hepatic microsomal overt and latent diacylglycerol acyltransferase activities

Hepatic triacylglycerol secretion is elevated in insulin-resistant states. Microsomal diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final reaction in the synthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG). We have previously described two DGAT activities in rat liver microsomes, one overt (cytosol-facing) and one latent (endoplasmic reticulum lumen-facing) (Owen MR, Corstorphine CG, Zammit VA: Overt and latent activities of diacylglycerol acytransferase in rat liver microsomes: possible roles in very-low-density lipoprotein triacylglycerol secretion. Biochem J 323:17-21, 1977). It was suggested that they are involved in the synthesis of TAG for the cytosolic droplet and VLDL lipidation, respectively. In the present study, we measured the overt and latent DGAT activities in rats fed diets containing one of two hypolipidemic drugs: fenofibrate (a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha [PPARalpha] agonist) and simvastatin (a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl [HMG]-CoA reductase inhibitor). We found that the activities of the two DGATs could be varied independently by these treatments. Fenofibrate raised overt DGAT activity but lowered that of latent DGAT. In contrast, simvastatin markedly lowered overt DGAT activity without affecting that of latent DGAT. The increase in overt DGAT activity induced by fenofibrate could not be mimicked by feeding a diet enriched in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which lowered overt DGAT activity but did not affect latent DGAT, suggesting that n-3 PUFA act through a mechanism independent of PPARalpha activation. The fibrate-induced increase in overt DGAT activity and the inhibition of latent DGAT may provide a mechanism through which acyl moieties are retained within the liver for oxidation through the pathways concomitantly upregulated by PPARalpha activation.