During baseline conditions, the fractional oxidative utilization of palmitate was almost as high as that of carnitine-independent short-chain FAs, unless the carnitine shuttle was inhibited by high levels of lactate. Inhibition of CPT I almost completely blocked the oxidative pathway for palmitic acid and reduced the fractional oxidative utilization, while the rate of oxidative metabolism of acyl-CoA was unaffected.
[11C]-Labeled FAs allow rapid oxidation to be well separated from esterification into slow turnover lipid pools in the heart of anaesthetized pigs. The fractional oxidative utilization of [11C]-palmitate serves well to characterize, in vivo, the carnitine-dependent transfer of long-chain FAs.