Cardiac metabolism of omega-(p-iodo-phenyl)-pentadecanoic acid: a gas-liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis.

The omega-(p-iodo-phenyl)-pentadecanoic acid (I-PPA) has been used successfully for the investigation of the cardiac metabolic activity and for the imaging of the myocardium (Machulla, H. J., M. Marsmann, and K. Dutschka. 1980. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. 5: 171-173). In the present study, the metabolic fate of I-PPA in the perfused rat heart was investigated. After application of I-PPA to the perfused rat heart, lipids were extracted, separated by thin-layer chromatography, and transesterified. The gas-liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GLC-MS) analysis yielded the following results. Heart triglycerides contained 73% of the recovered I-PPA; only small amounts of unesterified I-PPA were found in the heart. This finding is in good agreement with the radioactivity distribution determined simultaneously. Three metabolites could be detected and characterized by GLC-MS: omega-(p-iodo-phenyl)-propionic acid, omega-(p-iodo-phenyl)-propenoic acid, and p-iodo-benzoic acid. These short chain metabolites were found only in the perfusion medium demonstrating that they are not enriched but rapidly eliminated from the perfused rat heart.