The biochemistry of ketosis

Studies in the ketosis of fasting

A series of experiments was performed during the induction of starvation ketosis and in the acute reversal of the ketotic state. In contrast to the predictions of two widely held theories of ketogenesis, control of acetoacetate production by the liver appeared to be unrelated to changes in fatty acid mobilization from the periphery, fatty acid oxidation, fatty acid synthesis, or the acetyl coenzyme A concentration in the liver.Ketosis of fasting was shown to be reversible within 5 minutes by the injection of glucose or insulin. This effect was due to a prompt cessation of acetoacetate production by the liver. The possibility is raised that the ketosis of fasting is due to a direct activation of acetoacetate-synthesizing enzymes secondary to a starvation-induced depression of insulin secretion by the pancreas.

Characterization of water-soluble products of palmitic acid beta-oxidation by a rat brain preparation

(1) [1-(14)C]Palmitic acid was oxidized to CO(2) and a water-soluble material by a rat brain preparation. The radioactive CO(2) and water-soluble material were produced in a ratio of 1.0:1.3 when the mitochondrial fraction was used, and 1.0:10 or more with the postnuclear fraction. There was a lag period of 10 min for CO(2) production. These conversions were stimulated by carnitine and inhibited by cyanide. (2) Of the total radioactivity in the water-soluble material obtained with the mitochondrial fraction, 65% after 10 min of incubation and 80% thereafter were associated with amino acids, mostly with aspartate and glutamate. The remaining radioactivity, 35 and 20%, respectively, was associated with organic acids, 60-65% in citrate. The water-soluble material obtained with the postnuclear fraction contained an equal amount of radioactivity in organic and amino acids during the course of the experiment. In the organic acids, succinate was the highest labeled product during 10-40 min of incubation, whereas citrate was the highest labeled at the end of 60 min of incubation. After 60 min, the radioactivity in the amino acids was markedly associated with glutamate, and its radioactivity was 10 times greater with the postnuclear fraction than with the mitochondrial one. (3) An experiment with rat live preparations was also carried out. The liver mitochondrial fraction showed an accumulation of radioactive organic acids within 10 min of incubation, which was followed by a linear production of (14)CO(2). With the liver postnuclear fraction, the radioactivity was found mostly in the organic acids during the course of the experiment. In the liver system, the radioactive amino acids accounted for only 25% or less of the total radioactivity in the water-soluble material.

The metabolism of oleic acid by the perfused rat liver in experimental diabetes induced by antiinsulin serum

The metabolism of varying quantities of oleic acid was examined in isolated perfused livers from normal fed rats and from animals made diabetic by pretreatment with guinea pig antiinsulin serum (AIS). The data presented reemphasize the fact that the quantity of free fatty acid (FFA) coming to the liver is a necessary, but not the most important, factor affecting the subsequent metabolism of the FFA. Rates of ketogenesis and output of triglyceride and the terminal concentration of hepatic triglyceride were proportional to uptake of FFA in certain concentration ranges. For equal rates of uptake of FFA, ketogenesis was greater, and the quantity of triglyceride secreted or accumulated within the liver was less, with livers from diabetic animals than with livers from normal animals. In confirmation of previous data, the liver was observed to have a maximal capacity to secrete triglyceride. Triglyceride accumulated in livers from normal-fed and diabetic animals only when uptake of FFA was more than sufficient to saturate the secretory process. Since proportionately more FFA was catabolized by livers from AIS treated animals, greater uptake of FFA was required to produce maximal rates of output of triglyceride and accumulation in livers from diabetic than from normal animals. Rates of ketogenesis by livers from normal fed animals increased minimally with increasing uptake of FFA (up to 1.0 mM free fatty acid). Even when uptake increased considerably with FFA concentrations of approximately 2.5 mM, rates of ketogenesis by livers from normal animals were less than half those of livers from diabetic rats, and maximal rates were not achieved by the normal controls. It is evident that changes in hepatic metabolism of FFA in the intact diabetic animal result from simultaneous alterations of supply of FFA and hormonally induced metabolic changes in the liver. Moreover, although hepatic secretion and accumulation of triglyceride is greater in isolated perfused livers from normal rats than from diabetic animals when the livers are exposed to equal quantities of FFA, the diabetic livers can accumulate more triglyceride, secrete more triglyceride, and oxidize more FFA to ketone bodies than can the normal under conditions in which considerably more substrate is available to the diabetic rather than to the normal livers. These differences might also be expected to occur in the acutely insulin deficient intact animal, in which changes in hormonal status and substrate (FFA) availability occur simultaneously, and might, in part, explain the ketonemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hepatic steatosis often observed in vivo.

The design of experiments using isotopes for the determination of the rates of disposal of blood-borne substrates in vivo with special reference to glucose, ketone bodies, free fatty acids and proteins

1. The two well-known methods of estimating rates of irreversible disposal (R) of blood-borne substrates in vivo by isotope experiments involve estimating the specific radioactivity (S) of the substrate in blood either after single intravenous injection of labelled substrate or during its infusion at a constant rate. The value of R is calculated from the S-time curve, usually by assuming: (i) a metabolic steady state with respect to substrate, (ii) the passage of all substrate through the blood, and (iii) the absence of certain types of recycling via blood. 2. In a theoretical investigation we show how experiments can be performed and R calculated from analyses of blood when one or more of the above assumptions is unjustified, by using glucose, ketone bodies, plasma free fatty acids and proteins as examples. In general the methods require single injection procedures, with estimation of the total quantity of label in the substrate in blood and the substrate concentration instead of only S. Such values give estimates of R with standard errors even when only one blood specimen is taken from each of a group of animals, as is convenient when working with small animals or substrates in low concentration, and when the animals are in a non-steady state in which constant infusion procedures are invalid. 3. Similar methods give the fraction of label injected as one compound which passes through another (the isotopic yield). 4. The methods are not always applicable, and cannot be applied to plasma proteins in some pathological conditions. A questionnaire for assessing their applicability is given.

Effect of insulin and acute diabetes on plasma FFA and ketone bodies in the fasting rat

The metabolism of FFA and ketone bodies was studied in fasted rats by infusing at a constant rate tracer amounts of FFA-(3)H, beta-hydroxybutyrate-(14)C or acetoacetate-(14)C for periods up to 2 hr. Blood that was removed for analyses was replaced by continuous transfusion. The rates of turnover of FFA, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate in rats fasted for 2 days were, respectively, 3.2, 5.6, and 2.5 mumoles/100 g body weight per min. Infusion of mannoheptulose with anti-insulin serum increased plasma glucose, FFA, and ketone body concentrations and decreased the specific activity of plasma FFA. Injection of insulin (20 mU i.v.) decreased almost simultaneously plasma glucose, FFA, and ketone body concentrations and increased the specific activity of FFA, but it did not affect the plasma concentration of FFA-(3)H. The findings indicate that insulin deprivation increased and insulin injection decreased the release of FFA from body tissues in fasting rats. The plasma FFA concentration in fasting rats was increased by infusing chylomicrons and heparin, but this had very little effect on either plasma ketone body or glucose concentrations. Insulin injection (20 mU i.v.) lowered the plasma ketone body concentration in these animals. Studies using beta-hydroxybutyrate-(14)C showed that insulin (50 mU i.v.) decreased ketogenesis in the presence of a sustained high plasma FFA concentration and had no effect on uptake of circulating ketone bodies. The results indicate that plasma FFA concentration is not the sole determinant of plasma ketone body concentration and that insulin can suppress ketone body production through some means other than lowering plasma FFA concentration.