On the use of 16-iodohexadecanoic acid (IHDA) as a probe for myocardial beta-oxidation of fatty acids

The rate of myocardial clearance of label IHDA was compared with the beta-oxidation rate by coinjection of 125-IHDA and 3-H-Palmitic Acid (THDA) into isolated rat hearts. I-125 residue curves and efflux I-125 and H-3 curves were obtained. Three groups of hearts were studied, control, ischemic and those from rats previously treated with the beta-oxidation inhibitor Ethyl 2(5(4-chlorophenyl)pentyl)-oxiran-2-carboxylate (POCA). Both labels were found to exit ischemic and POCA treated hearts more slowly than controls. In all cases, the clearance of label from IHDA was significantly slower than that of the labelled water from beta-oxidation of THDA, consistent with previous work indicating the efflux of iodide from the mitochondria to be rate-limiting. Assay of heart homogenates showed 60% of the extracted label to be iodide at 1 minute. Thus, iodide is pooled within the mitochondria and diffuses out with a characteristic rate governed by electrochemical and lemmal properties. By assuming parallel utilization of IHDA and THDA and transient clearance of both labelled metabolites from the cytosol, the H-3 curves were interpreted ad equivalent with the production of free iodide in the mitochondria. A rate constant describing the flux of iodide across the mitochondrial membrane was calculated by fitting the I-125 curve (I/sup -/ output) to the H-3 curve (I/sup -/ input) convolved with a single exponential. The rate constant (k/sub I/=2.25 +- .35 x 10/sup -3/ s/sup -1/ for normals) was similar to the largest rate constant from fitted residue curves (k=2.08 +- .05 x 10/sup -3/ s/sup -1/)