Triacylglycerol turnover in isolated working hearts of acutely diabetic rats.

Although myocardial triacylglycerol may be a potentially important source of fatty acids for beta-oxidation in diabetes, few studies have measured triacylglycerol turnover directly in hearts from diabetic animals. In this study, myocardial triacylglycerol turnover was directly measured in isolated working hearts from streptozotocin-induced acutely diabetic rats. Hearts were initially perfused in the presence of 1.2 mM [14C]palmitate and 11 mM glucose for 1 h (pulse) to label the endogenous lipid pools, followed by a 10-min washout perfusion. Hearts were then perfused for another hour (chase) with buffer containing 11 mM glucose +/- 1.2 mM [3H]palmitate. During the chase, both 14CO2 and 3H2O production (measures of endogenous and exogenous fatty acid oxidation, respectively) were determined. A second series of hearts were perfused using the same protocol, except that unlabeled palmitate was used during the pulse and 11 mM [14C(U),5-3H]glucose +/- unlabeled palmitate was present during the chase. Both glycolysis (3H2O production) and glucose oxidation (14CO2 production) rates were measured in this series. Myocardial triacylglycerol levels were significantly higher in the diabetic rat hearts (77.5 +/- 4.6 vs. 33.7 +/- 4.1 mumol fatty acid/g dry mass in control hearts). In diabetic rat hearts chased with 1.2 mM palmitate, triacylglycerol lipolysis was increased, although endogenous [14C]palmitate oxidation rates were similar to control hearts and contributed 10.1% of overall ATP production. The majority of fatty acids derived from triacylglycerol lipolysis were released into the perfusate. In the absence of palmitate, both triacylglycerol lipolysis and endogenous [14C]palmitate oxidation rates were significantly increased in diabetic rat hearts, compared with control.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)