Distribution of enzymes of fatty acid and ketone body metabolism in periportal and perivenous rat‐liver tissue

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Abstract
The zonal distribution of cytosolic acetyl‐CoA carboxylase, mitochondrial 3‐hydroxyacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase and 3‐hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase was studied in microdissected liver tissue. In fed male and female rats the activity of the lipogenic enzyme acetyl‐CoA carboxylase was 1.6‐times higher in the perivenous than in the periportal zone of the liver acinus. 3‐Hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, which is involved in the formation of the ketone body, 3‐hydroxybutyrate, exhibited a similar distribution pattern with a 1.5–1.8‐times higher activity in the perivenous than in the periportal zone. In contrast, the activity of 3‐hydroxyacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase, the third enzyme in ß‐oxidation, was about equally distributed between the periportal and the perivenous zone of the liver acinus. The results indicate a predominance of lipogenesis in the perivenous, mainly glycolytic zone of the liver acinus. Furthermore, these data support the hypothesis that ß‐oxidation supplies energy for basic and anabolic processes like gluconeogenesis in the periportal zone, while it provides acetyl‐CoA for ketogenesis besides energy for basic needs in the perivenous zone.