Fig. 8
From: Combining albumin deficiency and acute exercise reduces hepatic lipid droplet size in mice
Graphical depiction of hepatic lipid droplet (LD) changes in mice after acute exercise. At rest, wildtype (WT) mice exhibited higher abundance and larger size in hepatic LDs while albumin knockout (Alb−/−) mice had lower LD abundance and smaller LD size. After a single bout of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), the hepatic LDs in WT mice maintained, alongside their plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels that were higher than Alb−/− mice and their exercise-induced elevation of hepatic glycerol-3-phosphate (G-3-P). FFA and G-3-P are recognized as the substrates for triacylglycerol synthesis, the core of LD. G-3-P elevation could be derived from hepatic glycogen. Conversely, we observed a reduction in LD size in response to exercise in Alb−/− mice; unlike in WT mice, Alb−/− mice did not experience an exercise-induced elevation of G-3-P in the liver, which was potentially due to their lower glycogen supply. The figure was created with BioRender.com