CHAPTEB XVIII 

 ACETONE BODIES 



THAT the acetone bodies are introduced here in immedi- 

 ate connection with our studies of fat metabolism is because 

 of the fact that these mysterious substances, which appear in 

 an apparently unregulated way, now here, now there, upon 

 the surface of the tide of metabolism, and which at one or 

 other time were referred now to one, now to another of the 

 principal types of foods, must, in consonance with the pres- 

 ent status of science, be regarded, at least principally, as 

 catabolic products of fat. 



In the group of acetone bodies we recognize, as is well 

 known, $-oxybutyric acid, acetoacetic acid and acetone, the 

 relative chemical connection of which seems to be that in- 

 dicated in the following schema : 



/S-OXYBTJTYRIC ACID ACETOACETIC ACID ACETONE 



CH, 



CH, 



> io 



~ C in 



L/li|. 



These accumulate in the body in certain pathological con- 

 ditions, notably in diabetic coma. 



Without entering into the historical development of the 

 subject of the acetone bodies, the author may with pro- 

 priety in introduction briefly outline the basis for assum- 

 ing that there is a connection between them and the breaking 

 down of the higher fatty acids in the body. 1 



Relation of the Formation of Acetone Bodies to the Cor- 

 poreal Fat and to that of the Food. It may be stated first 



1 Literature upon the Relation of the Acetone Bodies to Fat Destruction 

 in the Economy: A. Magnus-Levy, Noorden's Handb. d. Pathol. d. Stoffw., 2d 

 ed., 1, 184-188, 1906; A. Magnus-Levy and L. F. Meyer, Handb. d. Biochem., 4, 

 483-484, 1909; O. Forges, Ergebn. d. Physiol., 10, 8-11, 1910; C. Oppenheimer 

 and L. Pincussohn, Handb. d. Biochem., 4, 697-702, 1911. 



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