Modulation by ketone bodies of the rate of fatty acid synthesis in mammary gland slices from lactating rats.

The absolute rate of fatty acid synthesis was measured in slices of mammary gland from lactating rats by incubation in [3H]2O-labeled medium containing 10 mM D-3-hydroxybutyrate or acetoacetate alone and paired in combination with 10 mM glucose, lactate, or pyruvate. When compared with our previous studies, the ketone bodies alone supported significant fatty acid synthesis; the rate of synthesis from either ketone body and lactate was higher than that from pyruvate and lactate, and that from pyruvate and glucose; the rate of synthesis from D-3-hydroxybutyrate and lactate was the highest we have observed in the absence of an exogenous substrate for the hexose monophosphate pathway. This study confirms our previous contention that, in rat mammary gland, substrates formed in the mitochondria can be utilized in the cytosol to provide some of the NADPH necessary for fatty acid synthesis.