Deconvolution as a novel approach to analyze moment-to-moment free fatty acid release

Recent studies have shown that free fatty acid (FFA) release is pulsatile and that this pattern is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. It is, then, necessary to understand and characterize adipose tissue lipolysis to elucidate its effect on metabolism. In this study, we introduce deconvolution as a method to detect and quantify pulsatile FFA release.

Octanoate, a medium-chain fatty acid, was infused in male mongrel dogs (n = 7) to mimic the pulsatile appearance of plasma FFAs. Deconvolution analysis was used to reconstruct the number and timing of infused octanoate pulses from plasma FFA concentrations.

Deconvolution analysis was able to reconstruct the exogenously infused pulses of octanoate used to mimic pulsatile appearance of FFAs (pulse frequency, 8 per hour; interpulse interval, 7 minutes). However, determination of pulse mass was less accurate (1.0 +/- 0.0 vs. 0.54 +/- 0.1 mM). The addition of varying levels of Gaussian noise to non-oscillatory FFA time series did not lead to detection of extraneous FFA pulses. However, goodness of fit declined with increasing variability.

These results support the use of deconvolution as an accurate approach to determine the temporal sequence of endogenous FFA release.