Changes in microsomal lysophospholipid acyltransferase activity are correlated with rat parotid gland enlargement induced by chronic administration of isoproterenol.

Chronic (5- and 10-day) administration of isoproterenol, an agent that induces the proliferation of salivary gland cells, produced increases in microsomal 1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate acyltransferase and 1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine acyltransferase activity in rat parotid glands in parallel with gland enlargement. This increased activity was reduced when the treatment was stopped, the reduction corresponding to the reduction in gland weight. There were significant correlations between lysophospholipid acyltransferase activity and gland weight, and between the activities of the two types of lysophospholipid acyltransferase. However, isoproterenol treatment did not affect any of the steps of the subsequent phospholipid N-methylation. These results suggest that the cell proliferation induced by chronic administration of isoproterenol in the parotid gland is accompanied by reversible and selective increases in microsomal lysophospholipid acyltransferases.