Cardiac Lipid Content as Determined by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Increases After Exercise Protocol in the Fasted State

Vera Schrauwen-Hinderling¹, Lena Bilet¹, Tineke van de Weijer¹, Matthijs Hesselink¹, Jan Glatz¹, Joachim Wildberger¹, Michael Schr^2,3, Eline Kooi¹, Patrick Schrauwen¹

Excessive lipid accumulation in the myocardium may predispose to cardiomyopathy. Elevated plasma (free) fatty acids (FA) might be a risk factor herein. Cardiac lipid content was determined by 1H-MRS in healthy men (fasted state). Subsequently, subjects cycled for two hours and rested for three hours, after which cardiac lipid content was measured again. All subjects performed this protocol twice: once fasted and once while ingesting glucose to keep FA low. Cardiac lipid content was elevated after the fasted test day but unchanged when glucose ingestion kept FA low. This suggests that FA are important in determining cardiac lipid content.