Significance of blood ketone body ratio as an indicator of hepatic cellular energy status in jaundiced rabbits
Tanaka, J.; Ozawa, K.; Tobe, T.
Gastroenterology 76(4): 691-696
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-5085 PMID: 421996 Document Number: 153980
Changes in the free NAD+/NADH ratio and the energy charge (ATP + 1/2 ADP/ATP + ADP + AMP) of the liver were compared with the ratio of acetoacetate to .beta.-hydroxybutyrate of arterial blood in rabbits subjected to ligation of the common bile duct. Both the acetoacetate/.beta.-hydroxybutyrate ratio of the liver, which reflects the mitochondrial free NAD+/NADH ratio, and the hepatic energy charge decreased in accordance with the decrease of mitochondrial phosphorylative activity after the ligation. The decrease in the acetoacetate/.beta.-hydroxybutyrate ratio of the liver was attributed to a restricted mitochondrial reoxidation of NADH due to an inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation. Changes in the ratio of acetoacetate to .beta.-hydroxybutyrate in arterial blood were positively correlated with those of the liver (r = 0.695, P < 0.01) and the hepatic energy charge (r = 0.844, P < 0.01). The ratio of acetoacetate to .beta.-hydroxybutyrate in blood may reflect the energy charge of the liver in jaundiced rabbits.