AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 249, Issue 3 492-H497, Copyright © 1985 by American Physiological Society
Recovery of ventricular function in reperfused ischemic rat hearts exposed to fatty acids
K. Ichihara and J. R. Neely
The relationship between tissue levels of fatty acid metabolites in
ischemic and reperfused hearts and recovery of mechanical function of these
hearts on reperfusion was studied. Isolated rat hearts were exposed to
global ischemia for periods up to 60 min under various conditions of
coronary flow, O2 supply, and fatty acid concentrations and were then
reperfused for either 15 or 30 min under aerobic conditions both with and
without fatty acids present. Tissue levels of ATP, creatine phosphate,
long-chain acyl CoA, and long-chain acyl carnitine were determined at the
end of the ischemic and reperfusion periods. In some experiments K+ arrest
during ischemia was used to prevent adenine nucleotide depletion both in
the absence and presence of high fatty acids. Although the ability of these
hearts to recover their preischemic mechanical function varied from 8 to
90% and tissue levels of acyl CoA and acyl carnitine during ischemia varied
from 3- to 10-fold depending on the condition, no correlation was found
between the recovery of function during reperfusion and either the presence
of fatty acid or high levels of tissue long-chain acyl CoA and carnitine
esters during ischemia.
