Abnormalities of fatty acid metabolism in the heart presage contractile dysfunction and arrhythmias. This study was performed to determine whether myocardial fatty acid metabolism could be quantified noninvasively using PET and 1-(11)C-palmitate.
Methods: Anesthetized dogs were studied during control conditions; during administration of dobutamine; after oxfenicine; and during infusion of glucose. Dynamic PET data after administration of 1-(11)C-palmitate were fitted to a four-compartment mathematical model.
Results: Modeled rates of palmitate utilization correlated closely with directly measured myocardial palmitate and total long-chain fatty acid utilization (r = 0.93 and 0.96, respectively, p < 0.001 for each) over a wide range of arterial fatty acid levels and altered patterns of myocardial substrate use (fatty acid extraction fraction ranging from 1% to 56%, glucose extraction fraction from 1% to 16% and myocardial fatty acid utilization from 1 to 484 nmole/g/ min). The percent of fatty acid undergoing oxidation could also be measured.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate the ability to quantify myocardial fatty acid utilization with PET. The approach is readily applicable for the determination of fatty acid metabolism noninvasively in patients.