Myocardial turnover of plasma free fatty acids during angina pectoris induced by atrial pacing

Human cardiac metabolism

The heart is the most metabolically active organ in the human body, and cardiac metabolism has been studied for decades. However, the bulk of studies have focused on animal models. The objective of this review is to summarize specifically what is known about cardiac metabolism in humans. Techniques available to study human cardiac metabolism are first discussed, followed by a review of human cardiac metabolism in health and in heart failure. Mechanistic insights, where available, are reviewed, and the evidence for the contribution of metabolic insufficiency to heart failure, as well as past and current attempts at metabolism-based therapies, is also discussed.

Metabolic approaches to the treatment of ischemic heart disease: the clinicians' perspective

This review article discusses pharmacological approaches to optimizing myocardial metabolism during ischemia. Fatty acids are the main fuel for the healthy heart, with a lesser contribution coming from the oxidation of glucose and lactate. Myocardial ischaemia dramatically alters fuel metabolism, causing an accelerated rate of glucose conversion to lactate and a switch from lactate uptake by the heart to lactate production. This causes a dramatic disruption in cell homeostasis (e.g. lactate accumulation and a decrease in pH and ATP). Paradoxically, moderately ischemic tissue (approximately 50% of normal flow) continues to derive most of its energy (50-70%) from the oxidation of fatty acids despite a high rate of lactate production. This ischaemia-induced disruption in cardiac metabolism can be minimized by metabolic agents that reduce fatty acid oxidation and increase the combustion of glucose and lactate, resulting in clinical benefit to the ischemic patient. Agents that inhibit fatty acid beta-oxidation, such as ranolazine and trimetazidine, have proven to be effective in the treatment of stable angina. Treatment of acute myocardial infarction patients with an infusion of the glucose-insulin-potassium, which results in suppression of myocardial fatty acid oxidation and greater glucose combustion, has proven effective in reducing mortality. These metabolic therapies are free of direct hemodynamic or chronotropic effects, and thus are well positioned for use alongside traditional agents such as beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists or calcium channel antagonists.

Effect of coronary bypass surgery on anaerobic myocardial lactate metabolism during pacing-induced angina pectoris

Myocardial lactate metabolism was studied by coronary sinus catheterization in nine patients before and 8-12 months after coronary bypass surgery. Measurements were performed at rest and during atrial pacing increased to a heart rate which produced strong chest pain. The estimation of myocardial lactate extraction and release was facilitated by a constant rate infusion of 14C lactate and coronary sinus blood flow (CSBF) was measured by thermodilution. Pre-operatively strong chest pain could be elicited in all patients and isotope data indicated a significant myocardial lactate release in all of them, although the net a-cs difference was negative in only half of them. After bypass surgery the maximum tolerable heart rate was increased by 23 beats min-1 and chest pain both at heart rate 110 beats min-1 and at the highest heart rate achieved was reduced or absent in eight of the nine patients. The increase in chest pain during pacing was quantitatively related to the increase in myocardial lactate release, and the correlation between these two variables followed the same course after the operation as it did before. It is concluded that the improvement in chest pain limited cardiac performance after bypass surgery is well correlated with the improvement in myocardial aerobic metabolism.

Coronary circulation in acute hypoxia

Healthy young men were subjected to different degrees of hypoxia at rest and during increased levels of cardiac work induced by atrial pacing and physical exercise at submaximal and maximal loads. Coronary sinus (cs) blood flow was measured by thermodilution and a-cs differences of O2 and lactate were obtained. At low cardiac power output (rest, pacing) the reduction in arterial oxygen content was compensated for mainly by a more complete myocardial oxygen extraction producing lowered cs O2 saturation and tension, while at higher cardiac power (exercise) the compensatory mechanism was entirely an increased coronary blood flow. It was possible to compensate fully for a reduction in arterial O2 saturation of 9% even during maximal physical exercise. With a reduction in arterial oxygen content of more than 20-25% the flow increase was sufficient to supply the heart with enough O2 during submaximal (heart rate 157 beats min-1) but not maximal exercise, in which case anaerobic glycolysis contributed significantly to the myocardial energy metabolism. It is concluded that the normal heart has a 'coronary flow reserve' of about 33% above the flow prevailing during maximal physical exercise under air breathing.

Fatty acid turnover in the ischaemic compared to the non-ischaemic human heart

Cardiac extraction, oxidation and release of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) was measured by coronary sinus catheterization, utilizing infusions of 3H palmitate and 14C oleate, in patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) at rest and during pacing induced angina pectoris and, for comparison, in healthy men of similar and younger age and men with hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG). At rest IHD patients differed from healthy men only by greater cardiac fatty acid release, which correlated with a significant glycerol release. In IHD patients, unlike in healthy men, myocardial extraction of both palmitate and oleate decreased while fractional oxidation of oleate increased during pacing. Fatty acid release was unaltered. Men with HTG had at rest higher myocardial FFA extraction than IHD patients, which did not decrease during pacing, but like in the patients oleate fractional oxidation increased on pacing. It is concluded that, in the moderately ischaemic human heart, the restricted blood flow may contribute to limit the fatty acid flux into the myocardium. The augmented cardiac fatty acid release in IHD patients is not related to ischaemia per se but may derive from an increased amount of cardiac interstitial fat.