Increased ratio of plasma free fatty acids to albumin during normal aging and in patients with coronary heart disease.

The ratio of free fatty acids (FFA) to albumin, its carrier protein, was determined in 118 healthy men of ages 20 to 69 years and in 83 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) of ages 33 to 69 years. During aging in normal men, this ratio increased progressively from an average value of 0.755 +/- 0.061 in the age 20-29 group to a value of 1.042 +/- 0.105 in the 60-69-year-old group. In patients with CHD this ratio was approximately 18% higher in each 10-year cohort than the corresponding control value, rising from a value of 1.029 +/- 0.081 in the 30-39-year-old group to a value of 1.212 +/- 0.106 in the 60-69-year-old group. The compositional spectrum of FFA among representative groups was similar, although linoleic acid was slightly reduced as a function of aging and the development of CHD. These results demonstrate that studies which measure only the absolute changes in FFA levels as a function of age or development of CHD tend to underestimate the magnitude of changes in FFA availability to tissues and for participation in biochemical reactions.