Nutrition Metabolism Review Flashcards
How many kCal/gram do we get for glucose?
4 kcal/gr
How many kCal/gram do we get for fatty acids?
it’s the highest caloric fuel - 9 kCal/gram
How many kCal/gram do we get for amino acids?
about 4 kCal/gram again
What are the four important metabolic states and when do they occur?
fed - lasts 2-4 hours after a meal
fasted - overnight without eating
starved - prolonged fasting
hypercatabolic - after trauma or sepsis - not related to meals
What is the teleological statement of what the body wants to do after feeding?
body wants to store calories that exceed its immediate energy needs so that it can withstand periods of nutrient unavailability
What hormone is primary used for this in the fed state?
insulin - it upregulates biosynthetic pathways
What cells release insulin? in response to what?
pancreatic beta cells release is in response to high glucose concentrations in the blood
What catabolic hormone is inhibited by insulin?
glucagon
Usually insulin is released after a meal. What’s the exceptoin and why?
after a high protein meal, glucagon is released because you need to break some of those proteins down into amino acids that can be used for glucoenogenesis.
What type of receptor is the insulin receptor?
a tyrosine kinase with two alpha subunits and two transmembrane beta subunites that will autophosphorylate and then trigger phosphorylation cascades.
What are the two most important signalling cascades activated by the insulin receptor?
- the MAP kinase cascade eventually resulting in activaiton of transcription factors
- the PI3 kinase resulting in activation of protein phosphorylase 1, which activates enzymes for fuel storage and inhibits enzymes for fuel breakdown
What organ is primarily responsible for maintaining glucose homeostasis?
the liver
What does the brain do in the fed state?
oxidizes glucose to CO2 to make ATP through oxidative phosphorylation…it’s happy
What do the RBCs do in the fed state?
ferments glucose to pyruvate and then exports lactate (this is all they really can do)
What does white adipose tissue do in the fed state?
ferments glucose to glycerol 3 phosphate, which is the backbone for triacylglycerol synthesis. That makes sense, right?
What does skeletal muscle do in the fed state?
glycolysis and fatty acid beta oxidation, glycogenogenesis and protein synthesis
basically the whole kit and kaboodle
What does cardiac muscle do in the fed state?
fatty aacid beta oxidation (60-80%) - the heart loves fatty acids (why french fries makes my heart feel so happy)
glucose and lactate oxidation (20-40%)
What do the intestinal epithelial cells do in the fed state?
they covnert glutamine, glutamate and aspartate from the diet (so in the lumen) into alpha-KG
What do the coloncytes do in the fed state?
they are specialized to use short chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria
What does the body want to do in response to fasting?
wants to mobilize stored energy so that it can continue to perform work in between meals
What hormone is largely responsible for this mobilization of stored foods in the fasted state?
glucagon
What cells secrete glucagon?
pancreatic alpha cells