Changes in acetoacetate/beta-hydroxybutyrate ratio in arterial blood following hepatic artery embolization in man

Acetoacetate/beta-hydroxybutyrate ratio in the hepatic venous blood was compared to the ratios in arterial blood and peripheral venous blood in hypoxic state following right hepatic artery embolization in 5 patients with liver cancer. Ketone body ratios in right hepatic venous blood were positively correlated with those in arterial blood (r = 0.960, p less than 0.001), but not with those in peripheral venous blood. The free NAD+/NADH ratio of the liver mitochondria, which is reflected by the ketone body ration in hepatic venous blood, can be evaluated by the ketone body ratio in the arterial blood.