What is a fructose derived carbon?

Question

Here it is in context----> Although hepatocytes possess the enzymatic machineries to convert fructose-derived carbon into glucose, glycogen, lactate, lipid, carbon dioxide, and/or other metabolites [42], the actual metabolic fate of ingested fructose likely depends on various factors, including nutritional status, long-term dietary patterns, and/or genetic make-up. Isotope-labeled metabolic tracer techniques offer attractive means to quantitatively evaluate the conversion and oxidation of ingested fructose, and several of such tracer studies have been performed in humans.

Answer 1

Hey there, Jorge. The easiest way to think about fructose derived carbon is to remember that most of our cells can't work with fructose like they do glucose, so the hepatocytes break down fructose into cellular metabolism - friendly molecules, storing the chemical energy in glycogen, glucose, etc. The carbon atoms that come from fructose and are used in other molecules are known as fructose-derived-carbon. Please let me know if you have any further questions.