AJP - Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol 256, Issue 1 E31-E38, Copyright © 1989 by American Physiological Society
Altered hepatic fatty acid metabolism in endotoxicosis: effect of L-carnitine on survival
N. Takeyama, D. Takagi, N. Matsuo, Y. Kitazawa and T. Tanaka
Department of Critical Care Medicine, Kansai Medical University, Moriguchi, Japan.
The activities of palmitoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase, carnitine
acetyltransferase (CAT), and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) and the
levels of ketone bodies, reduced coenzyme A (CoASH), carnitine, and their
esters, which are involved in fatty acid metabolism, in rat liver and
plasma were measured after the administration of Escherichia coli
lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We also studied the effect of L-carnitine
treatment before LPS administration on survival and on hepatic fatty acid
metabolism. The activities of CAT and CPT and the concentrations of ketone
bodies, CoA, and carnitine derivatives (except for malonyl-CoA) declined in
the liver after LPS administration. The activity of palmitoyl-CoA
synthetase was changed little after LPS administration, and the level of
hepatic malonyl-CoA increased significantly, suggesting that LPS causes
activated fatty acids to undergo esterification and lipogenesis rather than
oxidation. Treatment of rats with L-carnitine before LPS greatly increased
the survival rate, but did not affect enzymes that metabolize fatty acids,
CoA, or carnitine derivatives in the liver. Further studies are necessary
to elucidate the mechanism of the effect of carnitine on post-LPS survival.
