Short-term effects of obestatin on hexose uptake and triacylglycerol breakdown in human subcutaneous adipocytes

AIM: To study complete dose-dependent effects of obestatin on lipolytic and glucose transport activities in human adipocyte preparations highly responsive to insulin. METHODS: Adipocytes were prepared by liberase digestion from subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue obtained from overweight subjects undergoing plastic surgery. The index of lipolytic activity was the glycerol released in the incubation medium, while glucose transport was assessed by [(3)H]-2-deoxyglucose uptake assay. RESULTS: When tested from 0.1 nmol/L to 1 μmol/L, obestatin did not stimulate glycerol release; it did not inhibit the lipolytic effect of isoprenaline and did not alter the insulin antilipolytic effect. Obestatin hardly activated glucose transport at 1 μmol/L only. Moreover, the obestatin stimulation effect was clearly lower than the threefold increase induced by insulin 100 nmol/L. CONCLUSION: Low doses of obestatin cannot directly influence lipolysis and glucose uptake in human fat cells.