Lipoprotein lipase activity in adipose tissue of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Lipoprotein lipase activity of epididymal adipose tissue was measured in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Diabetic rats of 3, 10 and 34 days duration were examined. The enzyme activity in adipose tissue of diabetic rats was similar to that of control rats of the same ages, compared on the tissue weight basis. However, since adipose tissue weight was markedly reduced in rats with both acute and chronic diabetes, total enzyme activity in the whole tissue was very low in such animals regardless of the duration of diabetes. We wish to point out that contradictory results on the adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity in diabetic rats in the previous reports have arisen depending on differences in the methods chosen to express enzyme activity.