Regulation of myocardial fatty acid oxidation by substrate supply

We tested the hypothesis that myocardial substrate supply regulates fatty acid oxidation independent of changes in acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activities. Fatty acid oxidation was measured in isolated working rat hearts exposed to different concentrations of exogenous long-chain (0.4 or 1.2 mM palmitate) or medium-chain (0.6 or 2.4 mM octanoate) fatty acids. Fatty acid oxidation was increased with increasing exogenous substrate concentration in both palmitate and octanoate groups. Malonyl-CoA content only rose as acetyl-CoA supply from octanoate oxidation increased. The increases in octanoate oxidation and malonyl-CoA content were independent of changes in ACC and AMPK activity, except that ACC activity increased with very high acetyl-CoA supply levels. Our data suggest that myocardial substrate supply is the primary mechanism responsible for alterations in fatty acid oxidation rates under nonstressful conditions and when substrates are present at physiological concentrations. More extreme variations in substrate supply lead to changes in fatty acid oxidation by the additional involvement of intracellular regulatory pathways.