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  • Between Bedside and Bench
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Expansion and contraction: the mighty, mighty fatty acid

Nature Medicine volume 15, pages 618–619 (2009)Cite this article

Bedside to Bench

Long before recorded history, fatty acids must have been hard for any organism bent on survival to ignore. Fatty acid combustion yields more energy than almost any other resource—9 kcal per g, more than double the yield from glucose. Moreover, these aliphatic, anhydrous carboxylic acids are easily stored, lowering the amount of water required for deposition as compared to other energy combustibles. Thus, as a portable energy resource, fatty acids are lighter and require less space, fostering mobility.

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Figure 1: Complexities in fatty acids and their handling.

Kim Caesar

Figure 2: Systemic consequences of fatty acid and triglyceride storage.

Kim Caesar

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  1. Jorge Plutzky is in the Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. jplutzky@rics.bwh.harvard.edu,

    Jorge Plutzky

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Plutzky, J. Expansion and contraction: the mighty, mighty fatty acid. Nat Med 15, 618–619 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0609-618

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