Lysophosphatidylcholine accumulation in the ischemic canine heart.

The production of cardiac arrhythmias and the elevation of lysophosphatidylcholine level in the ischemic myocardium have been well-documented in a number of studies. However, the relationship between the production arrhythmias and the elevation of tissue lysophosphatidylcholine level was not reported. In this study, the lysophosphatidylcholine level and the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias in the ischemic canine heart were monitored. A temporal relationship between the accumulation of lysophosphatidylcholine and the occurrence of arrhythmias was established after five hr of ischemia. A significant elevation of lysophosphatidylcholine was detected at three hr of ischemia without the occurrence of arrhythmias. The results indicate that cardiac arrhythmias did not cause the elevation of lysophosphatidylcholine and if lysophospholipids are causally related to the arrhythmias that a critical level of the lysophospholipid must accumulate in order to elicit electrophysiological alterations.