Hepatic Very-Low-Density Lipoproteins May Be Synthesized from Adipose-Derived Fatty Acid as Well as from Newly Synthesized Fatty Acid

The section on absorptive-phase metabolism discusses the hepatic production of VLDL. During the absorptive phase, triglyceride for VLDL synthesis comes from fatty acids syn­thesized from glucose. During catabolic periods, VLDLs may continue to be produced, but fatty acids derived from serum NEFAs are used for VLDL synthesis (see Figure 32-5). This may initially appear to be an unnecessary and inefficient meta­bolic step. Why should fatty acids from adipose tissue be trans-