scholarly journals Mapping the Endogenous Ketogenic System Across Ages, Sex and Diets

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 982-982
Author(s):  
Brenda Eap ◽  
Mitsunori Nomura ◽  
Oishika Panda ◽  
Thelma Garcia ◽  
John Newman

Abstract Understanding how our cells maintain energy homeostasis has long been a focus of aging biology. A decline in energy metabolism is central to many age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart failure, frailty, and delirium. Intervening on pathways involved in energy homeostasis can extend healthy lifespan. When our primary energy substrate glucose, is scarce, our bodies use ketone bodies (i.e. beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, acetone). Aging is associated with glucose intolerance and insulin insensitivity, yet what role ketone body metabolism might play in compensating for impaired glucose utilization in age-related diseases is understudied. Here, we investigated how the body’s endogenous ketone body production and utilization pathways are modulated by age across the lifespan of female and male C57BL/6 mice (4 mo old, 12 mo old, 22 mo old). We show how different ages have different metabolic and gene expression responses to 1-week ketogenic diet (KD) or ketone ester diet. We observed an apparently compensatory ketogenic response in older animals fed normal diet, with a stronger compensatory response driven by KD. We observed tissue-specific changes, including induction of ketone body production enzymes in the aging heart. When comparing the ketogenic capacity between sexes, females had a higher basal level and less variation with age, underscoring the importance of sexual dimorphism in metabolism. Overall, these findings suggest that older animals use ketone bodies to meet energetic demands in a normal diet context. This study supports the potential roles of ketogenic therapies such as exogenous ketones to improve energy homeostasis in conditions of aging.

1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (5) ◽  
pp. E850-E855 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Bailey ◽  
M. W. Haymond ◽  
J. M. Miles

Previous studies have indicated that simultaneous infusions of two ketone body tracers ([13C]acetoacetate and [14C]beta-hydroxybutyrate) provide accurate estimates of exogenous ketone body inflow when an open two-pool model is employed. In the present studies, net hepatic ketone body production was determined from surgically placed arterial, portal venous, and hepatic venous catheters in conscious diabetic (n = 6) and 4-day fasted (n = 7) dogs. [13C]acetoacetate and [14C]beta-hydroxybutyrate were infused simultaneously, and ketone body production was calculated from either acetoacetate (AcAc) single-isotope data, beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-OHB) single-isotope data, the sum of individual fluxes, or the two-pool model. In fasted animals, both the AcAc single-isotope calculation and the sum of individual fluxes overestimated net hepatic production by approximately 50% (P less than 0.05), whereas the beta-OHB single-isotope calculation and the two-pool model gave accurate estimates. In the diabetic animals, the beta-OHB single-isotope calculation underestimated net hepatic production by approximately 30% (P less than 0.05). The sum of individual fluxes overestimated net hepatic production by approximately 46% (P less than 0.05), whereas both the AcAc single-isotope calculation and the two-pool model gave accurate estimates. In conclusion, single-isotope methods give erroneous estimates of net hepatic production of ketone bodies. In contrast, a two-pool model provided an accurate estimate of net hepatic production and thus appears to be suitable for determination of ketone body kinetics in humans.


1981 ◽  
Vol 240 (3) ◽  
pp. E253-E262 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Keller ◽  
G. E. Sonnenberg ◽  
W. Stauffacher

The features of a single-compartment model of total ketone bodies were evaluated using primed constant infusions of [3-14C]acetoacetate (AcAc) and of D-[3-14C]beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta OHB) in 12 postabsorptive subjects. The volume of distribution (VD) of AcAc was 0.18 +/- 0.01 liter/kg (n = 9), and that of beta OHB was similar, 0.18 +/- 0.02 liter/kg (n = 3). The production rate of total ketone bodies was calculated using the combined specific activity of AcAc and of beta OHB. The mean basal total ketone body production rates were similar using either [14C]AcAc (6.5 mumol . kg-1 . min-1) or [14C]beta OHB (6.8 mumol . kg-1 . min-1). To determine the pool fraction that was rapidly mixed during nonsteady state of ketone body inflow, unlabeled AcAc was infused with stepwise increasing and decreasing rates between 5 and 25 mumol . kg-1 . m-1 to mimic nonsteady-state ketone body production rates. The "functional" pool fraction P was determined as the pool fraction that provided the best match between tracer-determined rates of ketone production and rates of AcAc infusion. P of total ketone bodies was almost equal to 1 using either [14C]AcAc (1.05 +/- 0.16) or [14C]beta OHB (1.00 +/- 0.06), suggesting rapid mixing of ketone bodies throughout the entire pool. The described pool model may be used to determine total ketone body kinetics during acute perturbations of the steady state.


2016 ◽  
Vol 310 (2) ◽  
pp. E103-E115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel Carneiro ◽  
Sarah Geller ◽  
Xavier Fioramonti ◽  
Audrey Hébert ◽  
Cendrine Repond ◽  
...  

Monocarboxylates have been implicated in the control of energy homeostasis. Among them, the putative role of ketone bodies produced notably during high-fat diet (HFD) has not been thoroughly explored. In this study, we aimed to determine the impact of a specific rise in cerebral ketone bodies on food intake and energy homeostasis regulation. A carotid infusion of ketone bodies was performed on mice to stimulate sensitive brain areas for 6 or 12 h. At each time point, food intake and different markers of energy homeostasis were analyzed to reveal the consequences of cerebral increase in ketone body level detection. First, an increase in food intake appeared over a 12-h period of brain ketone body perfusion. This stimulated food intake was associated with an increased expression of the hypothalamic neuropeptides NPY and AgRP as well as phosphorylated AMPK and is due to ketone bodies sensed by the brain, as blood ketone body levels did not change at that time. In parallel, gluconeogenesis and insulin sensitivity were transiently altered. Indeed, a dysregulation of glucose production and insulin secretion was observed after 6 h of ketone body perfusion, which reversed to normal at 12 h of perfusion. Altogether, these results suggest that an increase in brain ketone body concentration leads to hyperphagia and a transient perturbation of peripheral metabolic homeostasis.


1982 ◽  
Vol 243 (1) ◽  
pp. R7-R17 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Cobelli ◽  
R. Nosadini ◽  
G. Toffolo ◽  
A. McCulloch ◽  
A. Avogaro ◽  
...  

The kinetics of ketone bodies was studied in normal humans by giving a combined bolus intravenous injection of labeled acetoacetate ([14C]AcAc) and D(--)-beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-[14C]-OHB) to seven subjects after an overnight fast, on two different occasions, and by collecting frequent blood samples for 100 min. Kinetic data were analyzed with both noncompartmental and compartmental modeling techniques. A four-compartment model, representing AcAc and beta-OHB in blood and two equilibrating ketone body compartments, inside the liver and extrahepatic tissues, was chosen as the most reliable mathematical representation; it is physiologically plausible and was able to accurately fit the data. The model permitted evaluation of the in vivo rate of ketone body production in the liver, the individual plasma clearance rates of AcAc and beta-OHB, their initial volumes of distribution, and the transfer rate parameters among the four ketone body compartments. Moreover, the model provided estimates of the components of the rates of appearance of AcAc and beta-OHB in plasma due to newly synthesized ketone body from acetyl-CoA in the liver, and to interconversion and recycling in the liver and extrahepatic tissues. The model also was used to evaluate other methodologies currently employed in the analysis of ketone body turnover data: the conventional approach based on use of the combined specific activity of AcAc and beta-OHB required assumptions not satisfied in vivo, leading to substantial errors in key parameter estimates.


1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (2) ◽  
pp. E250-E260 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Avogaro ◽  
P. E. Cryer ◽  
D. M. Bier

To quantify epinephrine's effects on acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate kinetics, we infused subjects with 0.3 and 2.5 micrograms/min epinephrine, either alone or with a concomitant somatostatin infusion with insulin, glucagon, and growth hormone replaced at postabsorptive levels (islet clamp). Additional subjects received no epinephrine but sequential infusions of heparin plus 10% Intralipid at rates of 0.5 and 3.0 ml/min. Both epinephrine and Intralipid increased ketone body appearance (unaffected by islet clamp), augmented the interconversion rates between ketone bodies and, during the 2.5 micrograms/min infusion, caused a marked increase in beta-hydroxybutyrate appearance. The fraction of plasma free fatty acid (FFA) flux appearing as plasma ketones increased from 6 to 7% in the basal state to 11% at the high-epinephrine infusion. This fraction was also unaffected by the islet clamp and was not different from values obtained at similar Intralipid plus heparin-induced elevations in plasma FFA levels. We conclude that epinephrine's ketogenic effect in humans is primarily the result of its lipolytic effect, is accompanied by a significantly increased rate of ketone body interconversion, is manifest largely as an increase in plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate appearance at high plasma epinephrine values, and is not limited by portal insulin at post-absorptive levels.


1984 ◽  
Vol 247 (6) ◽  
pp. E732-E739 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Keller ◽  
P. P. Gerber ◽  
W. Stauffacher

Elevation of plasma norepinephrine concentrations to stress levels (1,800 pg/ml) resulted in normal subjects in a significant increase in ketone body production by 155% (determined by use of [14C]acetoacetate infusions), in a decrease of the metabolic clearance rate by 38%, hyperketonemia, and in increased plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels by 57% after 75 min. Norepinephrine infusion during somatostatin-induced insulin deficiency resulted in an augmented and sustained increase in ketone body concentrations due to increased production and decreased peripheral clearance of ketone bodies. Norepinephrine's stimulatory effect on lipolysis waned with time, and its effect on ketogenesis in normal subjects was greater than its influence on plasma FFA levels, and thus presumably on hepatic FFA uptake, suggesting a direct stimulatory effect on hepatic ketogenesis. The data demonstrate that in normal humans the hyperketonemic effect of elevated plasma norepinephrine concentrations results from a combination of three factors: increased ketone body production from augmented FFA supply to the liver; accelerated hepatic ketogenesis; and modestly decreased metabolic clearance of ketone bodies. Acute insulin deficiency augments all these effects and results in progressive ketosis.


2011 ◽  
Vol 300 (2) ◽  
pp. E287-E295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongjuan Zhang ◽  
Hang Yang ◽  
Xiaomu Kong ◽  
Kang Wang ◽  
Xuan Mao ◽  
...  

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. To date, the molecular mechanisms of DN remain largely unclear. The present study aimed to identify and characterize novel proteins involved in the development of DN by a proteomic approach. Proteomic analysis revealed that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) synthase 2 (HMGCS2), the key enzyme in ketogenesis, was increased fourfold in the kidneys of type 2 diabetic db/db mice. Consistently, the activity of HMGCS2 in kidneys and 24-h urinary excretion of the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB) were significantly increased in db/db mice. Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and real-time PCR studies further demonstrated that HMGCS2 was highly expressed in renal glomeruli of db/db mice, with weak expression in the kidneys of control mice. Because filtered ketone bodies are mainly reabsorbed in the proximal tubules, we used RPTC cells, a rat proximal tubule cell line, to examine the effect of the increased level of ketone bodies. Treating cultured RPTC cells with 1 mM β-HB significantly induced transforming growth factor-β1 expression, with a marked increase in collagen I expression. β-HB treatment also resulted in a marked increase in vimentin protein expression and a significant reduction in E-cadherin protein levels, suggesting an enhanced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in RPTCs. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that diabetic kidneys exhibit excess ketogenic activity resulting from increased HMGCS2 expression. Enhanced ketone body production in the diabetic kidney may represent a novel mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of DN.


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriko Higashino-Matsui ◽  
Ken Shirato ◽  
Yuko Suzuki ◽  
Yu Kawashima ◽  
Yui Someya ◽  
...  

1970 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. A. Krebs ◽  
R. Hems

1. The formation of acetoacetate, β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose was measured in the isolated perfused rat liver after addition of fatty acids. 2. The rates of ketone-body formation from ten fatty acids were approximately equal and independent of chain length (90–132μmol/h per g), with the exception of pentanoate, which reacted at one-third of this rate. The [β-hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio in the perfusion medium was increased by long-chain fatty acids. 3. Glucose was formed from all odd-numbered fatty acids tested. 4. The rate of ketone-body formation in the livers of rats kept on a high-fat diet was up to 50% higher than in the livers of rats starved for 48h. In the livers of fat-fed rats almost all the O2 consumed was accounted for by the formation of ketone bodies. 5. The ketone-body concentration in the blood of fat-fed rats rose to 4–5mm and the [β-hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio rose to 11.5. 6. When the activity of the microsomal mixed-function oxidase system, which can bring about ω-oxidation of fatty acids, was induced by treatment of the rat with phenobarbitone, there was no change in the ketone-body production from fatty acids, nor was there a production of glucose from even-numbered fatty acids. The latter would be expected if ω-oxidation occurred. Thus ω-oxidation did not play a significant role in the metabolism of fatty acids. 7. Arachidonate was almost quantitatively converted into ketone bodies and yielded no glucose, demonstrating that gluconeogenesis from poly-unsaturated fatty acids with an even number of carbon atoms does not occur. 8. The rates of ketogenesis from unsaturated fatty acids (sorbate, undecylenate, crotonate, vinylacetate) were similar to those from the corresponding saturated fatty acids. 9. Addition of oleate together with shorter-chain fatty acids gave only a slightly higher rate of ketone-body formation than oleate alone. 10. Glucose, lactate, fructose, glycerol and other known antiketogenic substances strongly inhibited endogenous ketogenesis but had no effects on the rate of ketone-body formation in the presence of 2mm-oleate. Thus the concentrations of free fatty acids and of other oxidizable substances in the liver are key factors determining the rate of ketogenesis.


BMC Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Kolb ◽  
Kerstin Kempf ◽  
Martin Röhling ◽  
Martina Lenzen-Schulte ◽  
Nanette C. Schloot ◽  
...  

Abstract During starvation, fasting, or a diet containing little digestible carbohydrates, the circulating insulin levels are decreased. This promotes lipolysis, and the breakdown of fat becomes the major source of energy. The hepatic energy metabolism is regulated so that under these circumstances, ketone bodies are generated from β-oxidation of fatty acids and secreted as ancillary fuel, in addition to gluconeogenesis. Increased plasma levels of ketone bodies thus indicate a dietary shortage of carbohydrates. Ketone bodies not only serve as fuel but also promote resistance to oxidative and inflammatory stress, and there is a decrease in anabolic insulin-dependent energy expenditure. It has been suggested that the beneficial non-metabolic actions of ketone bodies on organ functions are mediated by them acting as a ligand to specific cellular targets. We propose here a major role of a different pathway initiated by the induction of oxidative stress in the mitochondria during increased ketolysis. Oxidative stress induced by ketone body metabolism is beneficial in the long term because it initiates an adaptive (hormetic) response characterized by the activation of the master regulators of cell-protective mechanism, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), sirtuins, and AMP-activated kinase. This results in resolving oxidative stress, by the upregulation of anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities, improved mitochondrial function and growth, DNA repair, and autophagy. In the heart, the adaptive response to enhanced ketolysis improves resistance to damage after ischemic insults or to cardiotoxic actions of doxorubicin. Sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors may also exert their cardioprotective action via increasing ketone body levels and ketolysis. We conclude that the increased synthesis and use of ketone bodies as ancillary fuel during periods of deficient food supply and low insulin levels causes oxidative stress in the mitochondria and that the latter initiates a protective (hormetic) response which allows cells to cope with increased oxidative stress and lower energy availability. Keywords Ketogenic diet, Ketone bodies, Beta hydroxybutyrate, Insulin, Obesity, Type 2 diabetes, Inflammation, Oxidative stress, Cardiovascular disease, SGLT2, Hormesis


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