Effect of Proteins on Ketonæmia

Abstract

THE presence of fat is necessary for the increased production of ketone bodies, because they originate from fat. But the part played by the proteins is undecided. Some of the amino-acids are ketoplastic, while others act as antiketoplastic. According to Schaffer¹, fifty-eight percent of protein is of antiketoplastic effect, while forty-two percent is ketoplastic ; carbohydrates are antiketoplastic in their entirety, while ten percent of the fats (glycerol) are antiketoplastic, and ninety percent have a ketone-producing effect. According to Schaffer, ketosis ensues if the amount of ketogene molecules outnumbers that of antiketogenic ones. But Falta² could not confirm this attractive explanation. He is of the opinion that proteins exert a specific ketogenic effect, which is not only dependent on the amount of ketoplastic material contained in them ; for if he fed much fat and little protein to diabetics, acetonuria was less than if he did the reverse. But this opinion is not shared by such eminent clinicians as Porges and Adelsberg³ and Noorden⁴.