A Large Portion of the Fatty Acids Released from Adipose Tissue Is Taken up Directly by the Liver
During prolonged periods of undernutrition, low glucose availability leads to rapid mobilization of adipose fatty acids in the form of NEFAs. Although NEFAs are metabolized by various tissues, many are extracted from the blood by the liver, which receives much of the total blood flow and has an efficient hepatic NEFA extraction mechanism.
Once the NEFAs are in the hepatocytes, they may follow any of three potential metabolic paths. The first is complete oxidation for energy production; however, the hepatic requirements for energy are such that only a small amount of the total fatty-acid supply during adipose mobilization needs to be used for complete oxidation. The second pathway is esterification leading to triglyceride formation, and the third is production of ketone bodies. Triglyceride synthesis is discussed later; the focus here is ketone body production.
More on the topic A Large Portion of the Fatty Acids Released from Adipose Tissue Is Taken up Directly by the Liver:
-
Veterinarian -