Hepatic metabolism of 1-14C octanoic and 1-14C palmitic acids

The hepatic metabolism of 1⁻¹⁴C octanoic acid was compared with that of 1⁻¹⁴C palmitic acid in male rats which were fed. After intraportal injection only 1/6 to 1/18 as much octanoic acid as palmitic acid was incorporated into hepatic lipids. In contrast, octanoic acid yielded two to four times as much water-soluble product as did palmitic acid. Similar, but even more impressive, differences between the incorporation of these fatty acids into hepatic lipids were observed in liver slices incubated with¹⁴C octanoate and¹⁴C palmitate. The oxidation of octanoate to CO₂ was more than 10 times as great as that of palmitate. With both substrates, triglycerides comprised almost half the labeled lipid recovered. However octanoate yielded a higher proportion of labeled, unesterified fatty acids and a lower proportion of labeled phospholipid and monoglycerides than did palmitate. Most of the¹⁴C recovered in hepatic lipids after incubation with 1⁻¹⁴C octanoate was found in the carboxyl groups of long-chain fatty acids, suggesting that the latter had been synthesized from 2-carbon fragments formed from the oxidation of octanoate. In contrast, only a small fraction of the palmitate was elongated. The similarities and differences between the metabolism of octanoic and palmitic acid in liver and intestine, and the possible nutritional significance of octanoic acid are discussed.