The Metabolism of Fatty Acids in the Rat II. Oleic Acid

Abstract l‐C 14 ‐Oleic acid and 9–10‐H 3 ‐Palmitic acid in rat serum were injected intravenously to fasted and to refed male rats. The C 14 and the H 3 radioactivity in the tissue lipids was studied at various time intervals thereafter. The oleic acid label disappeared more rapidly from the blood FFA than did the palmitic acid label. The data indicate that oleic acid is more rapidly oxidized than palmitic acid. At short times a larger fraction of the C 14 radioactivity than of the H 3 radioactivity of the tissues was in the neutral lipid fraction, indicating that oleic acid is incorporated into this fraction to a larger extent than is palmitic acid.