Arterial-venous differences across the lungs in plasma triglyceride concentration.

Arterial-venous differences in plasma triglyceride across the lungs were determined in healthy human subjects before, during and following infusion of a soybean oil emulsion into the superior vena cava. Samples were acquired from the pulmonary and brachial arteries. A significantly greater mean concentration of triglyceride in venous as opposed to arterial blood was evident following 12 min of infusion (pless than 0.001), with a tendency for the retained lipid to be released during the postinfusion period. It could be calculated that during infusion the lungs retained about 20% of the available triglyceride, or 3 mmol/min.