ketone body

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Definition

Noun: A ketone body is an organic compound that is produced by the liver during the metabolism of fatty acids, especially when carbohydrate availability is low. It serves as an alternative energy source for tissues like the brain. The term specifically refers to one of three molecules: acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, or acetone.

Usage

Ketone bodies are crucial fuel molecules during periods of fasting, prolonged exercise, or in specific metabolic states. * The brain can utilize ketone bodies for energy when glucose is scarce. * High levels of ketone bodies in the blood, a condition called ketosis, can occur in untreated diabetes. * The test strip measures the presence of ketone bodies in the urine.

Advanced Usage
  • Physiological Context: In nutritional ketosis, the production of ketone bodies is a normal, adaptive response to a low-carbohydrate diet.
  • Pathological Context: In diabetic ketoacidosis, an excessive and dangerous accumulation of ketone bodies lowers the blood's pH, leading to a medical emergency.
Variants and Related Words
  • Ketone (noun): The broader class of organic compounds characterized by a carbonyl group bonded to two carbon atoms. Acetone is a simple ketone.
  • Ketosis (noun): A metabolic state characterized by elevated levels of ketone bodies in the blood.
  • Ketoacidosis (noun): A pathological and severe form of ketosis, most commonly associated with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes.
Synonyms
  • Ketones (in a specific physiological context)
  • Acetone bodies (a less precise, older term)
Related Compounds (Not Synonyms, but Specific Types)
  • Acetoacetate: The primary ketone body produced by the liver.
  • Beta-hydroxybutyrate: The most abundant ketone body in the blood during ketosis, technically not a ketone but a carboxylic acid.
  • Acetone: A volatile ketone body formed from the spontaneous decarboxylation of acetoacetate; it is exhaled.
Noun
  1. a ketone that is an intermediate product of the breakdown of fats in the body; any of three compounds (acetoacetic acid, acetone, and/or beta-hydroxybutyric acid) found in excess in blood and urine of persons with metabolic disorders

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