Short-chain fatty acid

A fatty acid with a short carbon chain, commonly defined as containing fewer than six carbon atoms. Acetate, propionate, and butyrate are prominent examples.

Fatty acid: A carboxylic acid with a hydrocarbon chain, found in fats and other biological molecules. Short-chain fatty acids are one chain-length class within this broader family.
Colonic fermentation: Microbial breakdown of undigested food components in the large intestine. It produces short-chain fatty acids when gut microbes ferment dietary substrates.
Butyrate: The conjugate base of butyric acid, with a four-carbon skeleton. Its use as colonocyte fuel makes it a leading focus of intestinal health research.
Portal vein: The vein that carries blood from the digestive organs to the liver. Absorbed short-chain fatty acids reach the liver through this major route.
Medium-chain fatty acid: A fatty acid with an intermediate-length carbon chain, commonly defined as six to twelve carbons. Its longer chain distinguishes it from the commonly defined fewer-than-six-carbon class.
Carboxylic acid: An organic compound containing a carboxyl group, which can donate a proton. This functional group gives short-chain fatty acids their acidic character.
Dietary fiber: Indigestible or partly digestible carbohydrate and related plant material in food. Fermentable fiber supplies much of the substrate microbes convert into these acids.
Gluconeogenesis: The metabolic synthesis of glucose from non-carbohydrate precursors. Propionate can serve as a carbon source for glucose production in the liver.
Hepatic metabolism: The chemical processing of nutrients and other substances by the liver. The liver metabolizes much of the propionate and butyrate arriving from the colon.
Long-chain fatty acid: A fatty acid with a carbon chain typically containing thirteen or more carbons. Its size and handling differ from those of short-chain fatty acids.

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