title: Myocardial concentrations of fatty acids in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare myocardial concentrations of fatty acids in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) with concentrations in control dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Myocardial tissues from 7 dogs with DCM and 16 control dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Myocardial tissues were homogenized, and total fatty acids were extracted and converted to methyl esters. Myocardial concentrations of fatty acids were analyzed by use of gas chromatography and reported as corrected percentages.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amount of docosatetraenoic acid (C22:4 n-6) was significantly higher in myocardial samples from dogs with DCM (range, 0.223% to 0.774%; median, 0.451%), compared with the amount in samples obtained from control dogs (range, 0.166% to 0.621%; median, 0.280%). There were no significant differences between DCM and control dogs for concentrations of any other myocardial fatty acids.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although concentrations of most myocardial fatty acids did not differ significantly between dogs with DCM and control dogs, the concentration of docosatetraenoic acid was significantly higher in dogs with DCM. Additional investigation in a larger population is warranted to determine whether this is a primary or secondary effect of the underlying disease and whether alterations in fatty acids may be a target for intervention in dogs with DCM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA.
authors.forename: Caren E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meydani
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rush
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000662:veterinary; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004285:Dogs; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids