The incorporation of glycerol into the glyceride‐glycerol of fat cells isolated from chronically cold‐exposed rats

Abstract The rate of 2‐14C‐glycerol incorporation into the glyceride‐glycerol moiety was measured in isolated fat cells from control rats maintained at 25 C and from animals chronically exposed to cold (5 C) for six to eight weeks. The rate of glycerol conversion (μM/μg DNA/30 min) was less in the cold‐exposed rats, than in comparable controls (1.96±0.14 vs. 2.68±0.17). Very little glycerol was oxidized to CO2 or converted to fatty acids. In both groups of animals, the glyceride‐glycerol formation was apparently stimulated by noradrenaline in the presence of glucose, but this incorporation does not significantly bias the estimation of lipolysis based upon glycerol release.