Regional blood flow during acute heart failure in dogs. Role of adipose tissue perfusion in regulating plasma-free fatty acids.

The effect of acute ischaemic left ventricular failure on regional blood flow and the possible role of adipose tissue perfusion in the regulation of plasma FFA during failure were examined. Left ventricular failure was induced in closed-chest anaesthetized dogs by injection of 50 micrometer plastic microspheres into the left main coronary artery. Regional blood flow, measured with tracer microspheres, showed a redistribution of cardiac output after the induction of failure. Adipose cardiac output (P less than 0.05), while skeletal muscle and pancreatic blood flow decreased about in proportion to the decrease in cardiac output. There was only a moderate decrease in renal blood flow and in left ventricular myocardial blood flow. In the free wall of the right ventricle blood flow was unchanged. There was a marked decrease in plasma FFA during failure (P less than 0.05), which could not be attributed to enhanced FFA turnover rate nor to inhibition of adipose tissue lipolysis, as plasma glycerol tended to increase. The marked decrease in adipose tissue blood flow during failure suggests that plasma FFA decreased due to trapping of FFA in adipose tissue.