CONVERSION OF BODY FAT AND PROTEIN TO ENERGY AND THE TRANSFER OF CARBON FROM FATTY ACIDS TO GLUCOSE IN THE GROWING PIG

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Abstract
The amount of body fat used for energy at various times of the day by pigs was determined by continuous sampling of expired air from fasting pigs whose body fat was labeled with14C-palmitic acid. After 3 to 6 hr of fasting, the level of expired14CO2per hr was 13% of that expired after 48 to 72 hr of fasting, and the average level during the first 12 hr of fasting was 18%. Calculations based on the14C activity of lipids and proteins in the blood and tissues of the pigs indicated that, during the first 12 hr of fasting, approximately one-eighth of the energy utilized was derived from body fat and protein. It also appeared that the fasting pig is capable of incorporating carbon into blood glucose from fatty acids of either endogenous or exogenous origin.