Regulation of ketogenesis in the liver.

Three major regulatory steps can be recognized in the control of ketogenesis (Fig. 1): (1) regulation of the supply of the major ketogenic substrate, plasma non-esterified fatty acids, by control of their release from adipose tissue; (2) regulation in the liver of the relative fluxes of non-esterified fatty acids through the pathways of /3-oxidation and esterification; (3) regulation in the liver of the relative fluxes of acetyl-CoA through the pathways of oxidation to CO, (via the citric acid cycle), and of ketogenesis.