Fat Metabolism in the Body

The body has a mechanism called homeostasis that keeps all the blood levels of substances, including fat, within normal levels in the bloodstream. This means that we need a certain amount of fat too.

This homeostatic function is done automatically if all of the organs in the body are functioning normally, and when the fat intake is not in excess.

When there is dysfunction of the organs related to the metabolism of fat, pathologic conditions occur like hypercholesterolemia (elevated blood cholesterol), hypertriglycedemia (elevated blood triglyceride) and many others.

How then is fat metabolized and how does the body get rid of this excess fat?

The following have been proven to be successful in getting rid of excess fats in the body.

1. Through metabolism

When we ingest fats, it travels down from the mouth to the esophagus to the stomach and then to the small intestines. It is only in the small intestines that digestion occurs and is completed with the aid of pancreatic lipase, co lipase, and bile salts/bile acids. If one of these substances is missing, then the conversion of fat (lipid) to its simplest form, the fatty acid, will not occur. The excess fat then is stored in the adipose tissue, and when left unchecked will lead to obesity.

It is only through metabolism, when fats are converted to fatty acids, that they could be utilized and "removed" from the body through conversion to energy and the like.

2. Through exercise

When a person exercises, in the same manner that carbohydrates are utilized and excreted from the body, fats or lipids are also catabolized to acetyl CoA and then eventually to ATP, CO2 and water.

The body gets rid of the fats by converting them into these harmless substances during physical exertion or exercise. That is why when your fat or lipid levels are high, the doctor almost always recommend exercise to reduce the fats in your body by "burning" them.

An hour of jogging can burn around 500 calories of body fat; so if you want to get rid of those excess fats, then exercise! The more vigorous the exercise is the more fats that the body gets rid of.

3. Through selected diet

There are certain food that when taken in, could help the body to get rid of the fats.

These are food that contains citrus extracts, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, (substances with antioxidant effects) and phytochemicals, (substances that helps the immune system).

These substances are found usually in fruits and vegetables. Fruits like oranges, blueberries, apples, grape berries , strawberries, etc. and vegetables like carrots, kale, spinach, onion, eggplant, help a lot in excreting the fat from the body through its rich fiber content, citrus extract and antioxidant actions.

Aside from helping the body get rid of the fats, it has been proven through research that citrus fruits also reduces the propensity to coronary heart disease, cancer and acts as a protection from other diseases by strengthening the immune system.

Getting rid of the fat from one's system must be a combination of activities: body's own metabolism and homeostasis, dieting, and exercising. It is only when these three are in conjunction with each other that the process could be successful.

Blood Gas Analysis

Blood gas analysis (BGA) is also known as arterial blood gas determination (ABG), and is considered a special test in the clinical laboratory. The commonly assayed parameters are partial pressure carbon dioxide (pCO2), hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and bicarbonate (HCO3). The determination of these substances helps in the evaluation of the acid-base status of a patient.

The following are certain precautions observed by medical technologists in the extraction of arterial blood for blood gas analysis.

1. The best specimen is arterial blood.

This is because arterial blood is more homogenous than venous blood. The blood could be collected in the following common arterial sites: the radial artery, the brachial artery, the femoral artery and the scalp artery.

The most ideal anticoagulant is dry heparin, and the preferable syringe is a glass syringe. Recently, new receptacles are manufactured which are specifically for BGA.

2. Collect the specimen anaerobically (without air).

Your specimen should be covered at all times to prevent the escape of carbon dioxide to the air. It should be transported immediately to the testing laboratory. If it is left uncovered, unreliable results will be obtained which will lead to a wrong diagnosis by the Clinician/physician.

3. Preserve in crushed ice, if not tested immediately.

The low temperature has to be maintained. An increase in temperature would cause the gas to evaporate. It must also be preserved properly to obtain reliable results, aside from making sure that it is covered.



The body naturally maintains a state of balance called homeostasis. In the case of blood pH, this is done by the lungs and the kidneys which act as compensatory organs for one another. When the lungs are dysfunctional just like in respiratory diseases (emphysema, TB, chronic bronchitis, etc), the kidneys respond by excreting or retaining bicarbonate (HCO3).

On the other hand, when the kidneys are dysfunctional, the lung will respond by the increase retention or excretion of carbon dioxide (CO2). Through these physiologic processes, the critical pH (acidity and alkalinity) of blood is maintained at 7.35 to 7.45. Any slight variation from this pH, whether an increase or decrease, will lead to coma and eventually death. It is therefore imperative that the body maintains this slightly alkaline pH of blood for good health.

The following are acid-base conditions and the corresponding compensatory mechanisms :

Values : pH - decreased , PCO2 normal, HCO3 - decreased
Condition - metabolic acidosis
Compensatory mechanism - hyperventilation , increase excretion of CO2
decreased retention of CO2

Values: pH increased, HCO3 - increased , PCO2-normal
Condition - metabolic alkalosis
Compensatory mechanism - hypoventilation, decreased excretion of CO2
increased retention of CO2

Values : pH- increased , PCO2 - decreased , HCO3 -normal
Condition - respiratory alkalosis
Compensatory mechanism : increased retention of HCO3
decreased excretion of H+

Values: pH-decreased , PCO2 -increased, HCO3 -normal
Condition: respiratory acidosis
Compensatory mechanism : increased retention of HCO3,
increased excretion of H+

Clinical laboratory scientists or medical technologists solve for the pH of blood making use of the
Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation: (H & H equation). The formula for this is:

pH = 6.1 + log (HCO3)/DCO2

HCO = TCO2-DCO2

DCO2 = PCO2 X 0.031

Where: pH =indicates the acidity or alkalinity of a solution (hydrogen ion concentration.
HCO3 - bicarbonate
DCO2 - dissolved carbon dioxide
TCO2 - total carbon dioxide

Normal values are:

pH = 7.35-7.45

HCO3 = 22 - 26 mmol/L

PCO2 = 35 - 35 mmHg

TCO2 = 23-27 mmol/L

Arterial blood gas has very important clinical significances. It is crucial that the Medical Technologists know the precautions and perform the determination accurately. A well performed ABG signifies a patient well served.

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Reference:

Calbreath, Donald F. Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry

Review Questions at Clin Chem Reviewer

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CHAMPIONS - PAMET NATIONAL QUIZ SHOW

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COMMON LABORATORY APPARATUS

The beaker has many uses:

1. mixing solutions
2. measuring large amount of solutions
3. transferring solutions
4. reaction vessel

ORTHOTOLUIDINE METHOD FOR BLOOD GLUCOSE DETER MINATION

MANUAL PROCEDURE:

Precautions:

1. Patient should have fasted for 8-12 hours.
2. Unhemoylzed, non icteric and non turbid serum should be used to avoid interferences
with the procedure.
3. The reagent contains sodium azide, which is corrosive, so PPE should be worn.
4. The solution should be brought to a boil to ensure proper reaction.

PROCEDURE PROPER:

1. Prepare Three tubes labeled, SA (Sample)/ C (Control), ST (Standard) and RB (Reagent Blank).

2. To the SA/C tube add 0.1 ml of the test specimen/ Control specimen.

3. To the ST tube add 0.1 ml of the standard stock solution.

4. To the RB tube add 0.1 ml of distilled water.

5. Add 4 ml of glucose reagent to all tubes. Cap and mix by gentle inversion.

6. Boil all tubes at 100 degrees centigrade for 8 minutes.

7. Cool tubes in running tap water for about 2 minutes.

8. Read absorbance of solutions in the spectrophotometer with appropriate cuvets at 636 nanometers against the RB (Reagent Blank).

9. Compute for the Cu (Concentration of the Unknown making use of the formula:

Cu= Absorbance of Unknown(Au) multiplied by the Concentration of the
Standard(Cs) divided by the Absorbance of the Standard (As)

Adapt the unit of the Cs

Normal Values = 60 - 100 mg/dL
to convert values to mmol/L multiply values in mg/dL with 0.0555

FUNCTIONS OF LIPIDS

1. Heat insulator - retains heat in the body
2. Lung surfactant - phospholipid
3. Transport substance - lipoproteins
4. Basic nucleus for steroid hormones
5. Energy source - is a purer form that carbohydrate

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