Assessment of fatty acids in dog left ventricular myocardium

The concentration and composition of fatty acids in four lipid classes in biopsies of dog left ventricular myocardium were determined, using gas-liquid chromatography. When precautions were taken to minimize lipolysis during storage of the tissue and the homogenization process, the following results were obtained: 29 +/- 10 nmol non-esterified fatty acids, 2.98 +/- 2.41 mumol triacylglycerol, 149 +/- 51 nmol cholesteryl esters and 23.76 +/- 3.38 mumol phospholipid (expressed as fatty acid moiety per gram of wet tissue). The concentration of non-esterified fatty acids was 15 to 300 times lower than reported in literature. The main constituents of the non-esterified fatty acids were palmitic, stearic and oleic acid. Triacylglycerol consisted of approximately 40% esterified oleic acid. Linoleic acid accounted for 40% of the fatty acids in the cholesteryl-esters class. More than half of the fatty acid moiety of total phospholipids was linoleic acid and arachidonic acid.