Prostaglandins and polyunsaturated fatty acids in heart muscle.

Abstract

1. Dietary lipids modify fatty acid composition of cardiac lipids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids replace less unsaturated fatty acids in phospholipds. 2. Mortality following isoproterenol-stimulation increase with decreasing amount of arachidonic acid in cardiac phospholipds. 3. In normal human heart muscle the ratio of essential, omega-6/nonessential, omega-3 fatty acids diminshes from age 17 to age 50 years. 4. In sudden cardiac death the ratio of prostaglandin substrate, C20:4, to prostaglandin inhibitor, C22:6, is frequently much higher than expected.