In vivo sampling of cardiac triglyceride from dogs during ethanol infusion

The feasibility of procuring and analyzing cardiac tissue for triglyceride in vivo was tested in anesthetized dogs. Measurements of triglycerides in samples obtained in vitro confirmed: reproducibility of triplicate analyses of the glycerideglycerol moiety of tissue triglyceride (SEM +/- 2.1%), homogeneity in and between ventricles (SEM +/- 1.8%), and agreement between right endocardial triglyceride and left myocardial triglyceride (difference not significant). Seven dogs received ethanol, 15-30 mg/kg/min, and five dogs received glucose or 0.85% NaCl for 2 hr. Cardiac output and filling pressure were measured from the left ventricle and tissue was taken from the right ventricle with a biopsy catheter before and during infusions. Three to four samples were obtained from each dog; the average weight was 14.4 mg and two to three biopsies were required for each sample. In the ethanol group, triglyceride increased after 15 min and continued to rise; the final triglyceride concentration correlated with the infusion rate. In the glucose-saline group, in vivo triglyceride concentration did not change and did not differ from postmortem triglyceride. Cardiac function declined in the ethanol group and was unaffected in the controls. Thus, multiple in vivo measurements of cardiac lipid are practical and safe and show that ethanol infusions cause early and progressive accumulation of triglyceride in heart muscle.