Short- and medium-chain fatty acids in energy metabolism: the cellular perspective

By P. Schönfeld, L. Wojtczak. Journal of Lipid Research, 2016

848 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Short- and medium-chain fatty acids (SCFAs and MCFAs), independently of their cellular signaling functions, are important substrates of the energy metabolism and anabolic processes in mammals. SCFAs are mostly generated by colonic bacteria and are predominantly metabolized by enterocytes and liver, whereas MCFAs arise mostly from dietary triglycerides, among them milk and dairy products. A common feature of SCFAs and MCFAs is their carnitine-independent uptake and intramitochondrial activation to acyl-CoA thioesters. Contrary to long-chain fatty acids, the cellular metabolism of SCFAs and MCFAs depends to a lesser extent on fatty acid-binding proteins. SCFAs and MCFAs modulate tissue metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids, as manifested by a mostly inhibitory effect on glycolysis and stimulation of lipogenesis or gluconeogenesis. SCFAs and MCFAs exert no or only weak protonophoric and lytic activities in mitochondria and do not significantly impair the electron transport in the respiratory chain. SCFAs and MCFAs modulate mitochondrial energy production by two mechanisms: they provide reducing equivalents to the respiratory chain and partly decrease efficacy of oxidative ATP synthesis.

Subfields: Molecular Biology, Physiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e14abfdbbaf0fb3525c1952387242cd27700cf03

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In Molecular Biology

1. M. De Angelis
2. M. Vacca
3. P. Portincasa
4. Y. Maltsev
5. K. Maltseva

In Physiology

1. Y. Maltsev
2. K. Maltseva

Citations in the corpus

• Gut Microbiota and Short Chain Fatty Acids: Implications in Glucose Homeostasis (2022, background): “Once in the liver, SCFAs become substrates for energy production of hepatocytes via oxidation [75].”
• Short-chain fatty acids: linking diet, the microbiome and immunity (2024, neutral): “SCFAs are predominantly metabolized by enterocytes and hepatocytes, for which they provide an energy source 6 .”
• Fatty acids of microalgae: diversity and applications (2021, background): “A diet high in SCFAs and MCFAs increases energy expenditure and decreases body fat (Schönfeld and Wojtczak 2016).”