Metabolism of Fats

Roshan Ali
Assistant Professor
IBMS, KMU
• 1. Describe the mechanism of fatty acid oxidation
• 2. Discuss the amount of energy produced during the oxidation of a
fat.
• 3. Explain the significance of the role of ketone bodies.
 Fatty acid oxidation

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 Ketone bodies

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 Importance of ketone bodies
• Ketone bodies are three water-soluble molecules
• Produced by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake (fasting) or carbohydrate
restriction for cells of the body to use as energy instead of glucose.
• Two of the three are used as a source of energy in the heart and brain while the third (acetone) is a
degradation breakdown product of acetoacetic acid.
• Radioactive tracing of acetone determines that between 2% and 30% is excreted from the body.
• Ketone bodies are picked up by cells and converted back into acetyl-CoA which then enters the citric
acid cycle and is oxidized in the mitochondria for energy.
• In the brain, ketone bodies are also used to make acetyl-CoA into long chain fatty acids, which
cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies
• December 16, 2015
Thank you