Lipolytic and metabolic response to glucagon in fasting king penguins: phase II vs. phase III

This study aims to determine how glucagon intervenes in the regulation of fuel metabolism, especially lipolysis, at two stages of a spontaneous long-term fast characterized by marked differences in lipid and protein availability and/or utilization (phases II and III). Changes in the plasma concentration of various metabolites and hormones, and in lipolytic fluxes as determined by continuous infusion of [2-H-3] glycerol and [1-C-14] palmitate, were examined in vivo in a subantarctic bird (king penguin) before, during, and after a 2-h glucagon infusion. In the two fasting phases, glucagon infusion at a rate of 0.025 mug.kg(-1).min(-1) induced a three- to fourfold increase in the plasma concentration and in the rate of appearance (R-a) of glycerol and nonesterified fatty acids, the percentage of primary reesterification remaining unchanged. Infusion of glucagon also resulted in a progressive elevation of the plasma concentration of glucose and beta-hydroxybutyrate and in a twofold higher insulinemia. These changes were not significantly different between the two phases. The plasma concentrations of triacylglycerols and uric acid were unaffected by glucagon infusion, except for a 40% increase in plasma uric acid in phase II birds. Altogether, these results indicate that glucagon in a long-term fasting bird is highly lipolytic, hyperglycemic, ketogenic, and insulinogenic, these effects, however, being similar in phases II and III. The maintenance of the sensitivity of adipose tissue lipolysis to glucagon could suggest that the major role of the increase in basal glucagonemia observed in phase III is to stimulate gluconeogenesis rather than fatty acid delivery.