Lipids and glycogen in fat body as well as the modifications in the wet
weight of this organ were evaluated in an unfed insect, Dipetalogaster
maximus, on day 5 after adult ecdysis (time 0) and during a 30-day
period after ingestion of blood meal. Total lipids, high density lipophorin
(HDLp), carbohydrates, total proteins and uric acid were determined in the
hemolymph during the same period.
Fat body wet weight was maximum on day 10 post-feeding and represented on
day 30 only 42% of the maximum weight. Lipids stored in the fat body
increased up to day 15 reaching 24% of the total weight of tissue. Glycogen
was maximum on day 20, representing approximately 3% of the fat body
weight. HDLp represented at all times between 17-24% of the total proteins,
whose levels ranged between 35 and 47 mg/ml. Uric acid showed at 20, 25 and
30 days similar levels and significantly higher than the ones shown at days
10 and 15. Hemolymphatic lipids fluctuated during starvation between 3-4.4
mg/ml and carbohydrates showed a maximum on day 15 after a blood meal,
decreasing up to 0.26 mg/ml on day 25.
The above results suggest that during physiological events such as
starvation, the availability of nutrients is affected, involving
principally the fat body reserves.
