The content and composition of 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol (1,2-DAG) was determined in hepatocytes from saline (0.9% NaCl)- and Escherichia coli endotoxin (ET)-infused rats upon continuous vasopressin (VP) (10(-8) M) stimulation. In both experimental groups the accumulation of 1,2-DAG was detected after a lag period (2-5 min), was sustained up to the last time analysed (10 min), and C18:0- and C20:4-fatty-acid-containing-DAG accumulation preceded that of DAG containing other acyl groups. In hepatocytes from ET-infused rats the VP-induced accumulation of DAG was delayed and was decreased by 50%, showing a C18:0/C20:4 molar ratio of 1.6 as compared with 1.1 for cells from saline-infused rats. A similar lower cellular response to VP stimulation was observed in cells prelabelled with [14C]C20:4 fatty acid. The accumulation of [14C]C20:4-DAG (lower in ET than in saline-infused rats) was paralleled by a decrease in phosphatidylinositol (PI) labelling, whereas phosphatidic acid showed a transient increase by 5 min in saline- but not in ET-infused rats. The present results demonstrate that the previously reported impairment in the early degradation of poly-PI and later in the ‘PI cycle’ during VP stimulation [Rodriguez de Turco & Spitzer (1987) Metab. Clin. Exp. 36, 753-760] is also reflected at the level of their phosphodiesteratic product, DAG. Moreover, the kinetics of the accumulation of DAG acyl groups is consistent with the idea that the initial release of C18:0- and C20:4-DAG (possibly derived from inositol lipids) could regulate the subsequent enlargement of this pool by stimulating a phospholipase C-mediated degradation of other phospholipids (e.g. phosphatidylcholine).
