The triglyceride fatty acid pattern in arterial wall, adipose tissue and serum of amputated diabetic subjects.

The triglyceride fatty acid pattern [TFAP] in arterial wall, adipose tissue and serum has been estimated in diabetic subjects by gas-liquid chromatography simultaneously. The samples were taken shortly before or during femoral amputation performed under halothane anaesthesia. In addition, in some probands the fatty acids of cholesterol esters of vascular walls have been obtained. The following differences in the TFAP of the tissues under study were discovered. In arterial wall compared to serum, lauric, myristic, myristoleic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic and linolenic acid were increased; palmitic and linoleic acid were decreased, whereas eicosatrienoic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acid were at the same level. In arterial wall compared to adipose tissue, myristic, palmitic and nervonic acid were decreased; eicosatrienoic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acid were increased. Most differences concern the TFAP of adipose tissue compared to serum: lauric, myristic, myristoleic, palmitoleic, oleic, linolenic, lignoceric and nervonic acid were elevated in the former; palmitic, linoleic, eicosatrienoic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acid were increased in the latter. In consideration of different content of fatty acids in the tissues studied the authors conclude that certain fatty acids have distinct metabolic positions such as depot fatty acids and precursors of prostaglandins.