Ketogenesis from butyrate and acetate by the caecum and the colon of rabbits

1. When studied in vitro, tissue from the caecum and the proximal colon of rabbits converted butyrate into ketone bodies. The conversion was similar to that observed with liver slices. The ketogenic activity was associated with the mucosa rather than the muscle of the gut wall and, in the colon, diminished as the distance from the caecal-colonic junction increased. 2. Tissue from the wall of the ileum, caecum, proximal colon and distal colon was also shown to metabolize [1-(14)C]butyrate to carbon dioxide. 3. Enzyme assays showed that in both liver tissue and caecal mucosa the activity of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase was more than ten times that of acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase. Labelling experiments in vitro gave confirmation of the hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA pathway. 4. The significance of the conversion of butyrate into ketone bodies is discussed.