Control of tissue carnitine contents: effects of partial hepatectomy and liver regeneration on carnitine concentrations in liver and extrahepatic tissues of the rat.

The liver is the sole site of carnitine biosynthesis in the rat. However, the first 24 h after the surgical removal of two-thirds of the liver mass are not associated with depletion of carnitine either in the liver remnant or in a number of extrahepatic tissues with relatively short turnover times of carnitine (less than 24 h; heart, spleen, kidney). Dietary carnitine was not supplied. The results suggest that the capacity of the remnant liver for carnitine biosynthesis is sufficient to maintain tissue carnitine contents. Liver regeneration influenced the relative proportions of hepatic free and acylated carnitines in a manner compatible with changes in fat disposition in the proliferating tissue.