I-123 heptadecanoic acid--value and limitations in comparison with C-11 palmitate

To define the potential of 123I-labeled heptadecanoic acid (IHA) for the noninvasive assessment of myocardial free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism, the kinetics of IHA were compared to those of physiologic 11C-palmitate (CPA). The single-pass myocardial extraction fraction of IHA was lower than that of CPA (0.53 +/- 0.11 vs 0.65 +/- 0.10 under control conditions). Following an intracoronary injection of IHA and CPA, the myocardial time-activity curves showed biphasic clearance of both tracers. While, for CPA, the half-time of the early phase of the time-activity curve was a function of myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2), this phase was not found to reflect the oxidative metabolism of IHA. However, for both tracers, the size of the early phase increased with augmented MVO2, whereas the size of the late phase decreased. The late phase represents storage of both tracers in triglycerides and phospholipids. Hence, while quantitative measurement of CPA oxidation is possible from the early phase of the time-activity curve, only the ratio between the size of the early and late phase might be of value in assessing myocardial FFA metabolism using IHA.