Effect of elevated plasma-free fatty acids on thromboxane release in patients with coronary artery disease

Increases in endogenous free fatty acids (FFA) induced by several stimuli are associated with increases in platelet aggregates and platelet factor 4 in man. To determine if thromboxane (TxB) release is also an associated event, we measured plasma FFA and TxB2 levels before and 5 min after bolus injection of 2,500 U of heparin prior to coronary arteriography in 27 patients with angina. Significant increases in FFA occurred in all patients (p less than 0.02) and those with critical lesions (p less than 0.01), while TxB2 levels also rose (p less than 0.02, p less than 0.05, respectively). However, linear regression showed increases in FFA and TxB2 were independent. The observed TxB2 release may be due to lipolysis-induced exposure of vascular collagen or direct inhibition of platelet adenylate cyclase by heparin.