PART TWO Metabolism of Ketone Bodies in Health and Disease

What happens when myocardium are exposed to chronic states of ketosis? In part two of our podcast on the Review article by Cotter et al, Associate Editor Christine Des Rosiers continues the discussion with lead author Peter Crawford (Washington University in St. Louis) and renowned metabolism expert Heinrich Taegtmeyer (University of Texas Medical School) about the adaptation of the myocardium to chronic ketosis. We explore how the heart protects itself from an overabundance of ketone bodies by down regulating key regulatory enzymes in ketone body metabolism. What new experimental models are being developed to study the targeted inactivation of the SCOT enzyme, which may help us understand how the heart protects against fuel toxicity? Listen now.

David G. Cotter, Rebecca C. Schugar, and Peter A. Crawford Ketone body metabolism and cardiovascular disease Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published online February 8, 2013, doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00646.2012.