ketone bodies

[Transformers]

So ketone bodies are derived from fatty acids (specifically the acetyl coAs made from B-oxidation) + aa (Lysine and Leucine)....why does your body go through the trouble of making ketone bodies if they end up being converted to acetyl coA again at the end in the muscle and brain prior to entering the Krebs cycle...just boggles my mind? as to the importance of the process when you could just straight up use the acetyl coA from beta oxidation in the beginning

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[tiedyeddog]

So ketone bodies are derived from fatty acids (specifically the acetyl coAs made from B-oxidation) + aa (Lysine and Leucine)....why does your body go through the trouble of making ketone bodies if they end up being converted to acetyl coA again at the end in the muscle and brain prior to entering the Krebs cycle...just boggles my mind? as to the importance of the process when you could just straight up use the acetyl coA from beta oxidation in the beginning

I could be wrong here but I think ketone bodies are more stable in the blood and are more soluble?

 

[withrye]

It would require a CoA carrier in the blood back and forth, because the process you're describing ends up with a net flow of coenzyme A out of the liver and into the muscles and brain. The pure ketone route keeps CoA in their respective organs and only concerns itself with moving the carbons (the true energy source) around the body.

 

[Little Soldier]

suppose your liver is producing acetyl coa and leaving it like that instead of making ketone bodies. the acetyl coa in the liver would start going through the krebs cycle in the hepatocytes themselves so only a part of it would get exported into the blood. on top of that i dont think acetyl coa is very soluble in plasma so you need ketone bodies to do this instead (as someone mentioned earlier).