Effects of oxfenicine on the atria from fed and fasted rats

The aim of the investigation was to assess whether endogenous triacylglycerol contributes to the maintenance of the atrial functions. To attain this information, the atria from fed and fasted rats were treated with oxfenicine which is a cardioselective inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I. In the presence of glucose, oxfenicine suppressed lipolysis without affecting the pacemaker and contractile activities. When exposed to 2-deoxyglucose in a substrate-free medium, the atria displayed a progressive fall of the contractile strength and pacemaker rate. The dysfunctions appeared faster in the atria from fed rats coinciding with a smaller triacylglycerol mobilization. Under this condition, oxfenicine abolished the triacylglycerol breakdown, increased the fall in the peak tension, elicited a rise in the resting tension and accelerated the decline of the pacemaker rate, leading in a significant number of atria to a complete cessation of the spontaneous contractions. These effects proceeded faster in the fed rats atria. Present data suggest that glucose oxidation is sufficient to meet the atrial energy demand when the fatty acid catabolism is impeded. The noxious effects of oxfenicine, attained after the glucose metabolism was eliminated, lend direct evidence to the notion that endogenous triacylglycerol supports, at least partly, the atrial functions.