On some aspects of activation of tissue lipolysis by mechanical factors

An analysis of the effect of the ordinary physical factors acting on living beings on the splitting of adipose tissue triglycerides is reported. Massage was usually responsible for activation of lipolysis, or at least for an increase in blood glycerol and NEFA. If carried out for some time and repeated over a period of days, it appears capable of maintaining chronically enhanced lipolysis. The possible causes of these effects are discussed and particular stress is laid on the release of catecholamines by tissue nerve endings. Partial confirmation of this can be seen in the fact that activation of lipolysis can be depressed by administering beta-blocking drugs. The data also suggest that non-neuroendocrine mechanisms may exert a more immediate action on cell metabolism. Such mechanisms are concerned with a sector of cell life about which little is yet known, wherein every biological process is the result of phenomenon dependent on molecular physics.