The role of fatty acids in ischemic tissue injury: difference between oleic and palmitic acid

Guinea pig hearts were subjected to low-flow perfusion (0.3 ml/g fresh weight/min) with an oxygen depleted perfusate. Fatty acids (palmitic or oleic acid), added to the perfusate, accelerated in a dose-dependent manner the anoxic decay of creatine phosphate and ATP, impaired lactate production and augmented enzyme release (lactate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase). Palmitic and oleic acid, however, differed distinctly in their deleterious effect, this being greater for oleic acid. After 60 min anoxic low-flow perfusion with 11 mM glucose and 0.2 mM of either fatty acid, complexed in 5:1 molar relationship to albumin, the creatine phosphate content with palmitate is 39% greater than with oleate, the ATP content 23%, lactate production 15% greater, and release of malate dehydrogenase 24% lower, but the elevated contents of long-chain acyl CoA and acyl carnitine are not significantly different for the two fatty acids. These results accord with earlier experiences on subcellular systems showing that the physicochemical effects of the oleyl residue are more harmful than those of the palmityl residue.