Hepatic microsomal triglyceride transfer protein gene expression in carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridemia

The microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) facilitates the assembly of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). To investigate the effects of carbohydrate (CHO)-induced hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) on the hepatic expression of the MTP gene, Golden Syrian hamsters were fed fructose (FR) and sucrose (SUC) enriched diets. Changes in fasting plasma glucose (FPG), insulin, free fatty acids (FFA), TG, VLDL-TG and VLDL-protein were determined. Abundance of hepatic MTP-mRNA was compared to those of albumin (ALB)-mRNA and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH)-mRNA. Hepatic secretion rates (SR) of VLDL-TG and VLDL-PR were assessed after intravenous Triton WR-1339 injection. Lipoprotein lipase (LpL) activity of the epididymal fat pads was determined. As compared to the control and SUC, FR increased plasma insulin (FR = 238+24, SUC = 115±17, control = 82±16 μU/ml, p < 0.0001), FFA (FR = 1.93±0.24, SUC = 1.35±0.1, control = 1.47±0.13 mEq/L, p < 0.03) and TG (FR = 215±47, SUC = 93±7, control = 71±16 mg/dl, p < 0.01), without affecting FPG. There was no change in LpL activity. Fructose-feeding increased VLDL-TG-SR (FR = 2.95±0.26, SUC = 1.28±0.34, control = 2.18±0.26 mg/kg.wt/h−1, p < 0.004), but not VLDL-protein-SR. MTP-mRNA abundance did not change when compared to albumin mRNA, however FR-fed hamsters had lower MTP mRNA abundance when compared to GAPDH mRNA (FR = 0.96±0.13, SUC = 1.15±0.14, control = 1.49±0.14 MTPGAPDH-mRNA, p < 0.05). The finding that FR-feeding increased VLDL-TG secretion without any increase in MTP mRNA proves that CHO-induced HTG can occur without an increase in hepatic MTP gene expression.