Reutilization of fatty acid carbons for lung lipid synthesis

The utilization of glucose, palmitate, and oleate for the synthesis of lung lipids was studied in isolated rat lungs. Lungs were ventilated with 5% CO2 in air and perfused for 100 min with a Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.4), containing 3% fatty acid-free albumin and either 5.6 mM [U-14C]glucose or 0.25 mM [1-14C]palmitate, or 0.25 mM [1-14C]-oleate. At the end of 100 min of perfusion with these precursors, between 73 and 85% of total lipid 14C was recovered as phospholipid. Glucose carbon was mainly incorporated into triglyceride fatty acids (TG-FA) and phosphatidylcholine fatty acids (PC-FA) of 16- and 18-carbon chain length. After perfusion with [14C]palmitate and [14C]oleate, only 65 and 20% of 14C was recovered as PC 16-carbon and 18-carbon FA, respectively. The remaining 14C was mainly recovered as FA shorter than the 14C precursors. Schmidt degradation analysis of lipid FA demonstrated considerable labeling of alkyl carbons on perfusion with the carboxyl-labeled precursors, indicating that FA degradation products were used for synthesis of lipid FA. This process was enhanced on addition of glucose to the perfusate.