Dietary conjugated linoleic acid reciprocally modifies ketogenesis and lipid secretion by the rat liver.

The effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and linoleic acid (LA) on ketone body production and lipid secretion were compared in isolated perfused rat liver. After feeding the 1% CLA diet for 2 wk, the concentration of post-perfused liver cholesterol was significantly reduced by CLA feeding, whereas that of triacylglycerol remained unchanged. Livers from CLA-fed rats produced significantly more ketone bodies; and the ratio of beta-hydroxybutyrate to acetoacetate, an index of mitochondrial redox potential, tended to be consistently higher in the liver perfusate. Conversely, cumulative secretions of triacylglycerol and cholesterol were consistently lower in the livers of rats fed CLA, and the reduction in the latter was statistically significant. Thus dietary CLA appeared to exert its hypolipidemic effect at least in part through an enhanced beta-oxidation of fatty acids at the expense of esterification of fatty acid in the liver.