Abstract
One of the functions of hepatic oxidation is to provide ketone bodies, acetoacetate and hydroxybutyrate, to the peripheral circulation. These can then be utilized by peripheral tissues such as brain and heart. Beta-oxidation itself produces acetyl-CoA which then has three possible fates: entry to the Krebs cycle via citrate synthase; ketogenesis or transesterification to acetyl-carnitine by the action of carnitine acetyltransferase (CAT). Intramitochondrial acetyl-carnitine then equilibrates with plasma via the carnitine acyl-carnitine translocase and presumably via the plasma membrane carnitine transporter. Human studies have shown that acetyl-carnitine may provide up to 5% of the circulating carbon product from fatty acids and can be taken and utilized by muscle and possibly brain. In addition, acyl-carnitines are of important with regard to the diagnosis of inborn errors of oxidation. For these reasons, we wished to examine the production of acetyl-carnitine and other acyl-carnitine esters by neonatal rat hepatocytes.
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