Cigarette smoke affects lipolytic activity in isolated rat lungs.

Isolated perfused rat lungs liberated fatty acids at a rate of 15 mumol/hr during perfusion of triglyceride-rich medium through the pulmonary vascular bed. About 80% of this activity seemed to result from lipoprotein lipase and 20% to hormone-sensitive lipase. Ventilation of the lungs with cigarette smoke instead of air during the perfusion reduced fatty acid liberation by 23%. Pre-exposure of rats to cigarette smoke for either 1 or 10 days did not cause significant changes in lung lipolytic activity compared to sham-exposed controls.