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. 1972 Dec;130(3):785–790. doi: 10.1042/bj1300785

Ketogenesis from butyrate and acetate by the caecum and the colon of rabbits

Susan J Henning 1, F J R Hird 1
PMCID: PMC1174516  PMID: 4664932

Abstract

1. When studied in vitro, tissue from the caecum and the proximal colon of rabbits converted butyrate into ketone bodies. The conversion was similar to that observed with liver slices. The ketogenic activity was associated with the mucosa rather than the muscle of the gut wall and, in the colon, diminished as the distance from the caecal–colonic junction increased. 2. Tissue from the wall of the ileum, caecum, proximal colon and distal colon was also shown to metabolize [1-14C]butyrate to carbon dioxide. 3. Enzyme assays showed that in both liver tissue and caecal mucosa the activity of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase was more than ten times that of acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase. Labelling experiments in vitro gave confirmation of the hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA pathway. 4. The significance of the conversion of butyrate into ketone bodies is discussed.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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