Changes in fatty acyl chain composition of rat heart phospholipids induced by noradrenaline

The effect of noradrenaline on fatty acyl chain composition of the rat heart phospholipids was studied in vivo. The rats received increasing amounts of noradrenaline for 15 days. The noradrenaline stress caused significant alterations in the fatty acyl chain composition of the two major phospholipids in heart muscle, whereas the phospholipid content remained unchanged. In phosphatidylcholine, there was 50% diminution in linoleic acid and a decrease in oleic acid with a concomitant increase in stearic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids. In phosphatidylethanolamine, the docosahexaenoic acid increased by 25% accompanied by a decrease in oleic and arachidonic acids. The possible causes and consequences of these changes are discussed.