Oral β-hydroxybutyrate increases ketonemia, decreases visceral adipocyte volume and improves serum lipid profile in Wistar rats

Background Ketosis can be induced in humans and in animals by fasting or dietary interventions, such as ketogenic diets. However, the increasing interest on the ketogenic state has motivated the development of alternative approaches to rapidly increase ketonemia using less drastic interventions. Here, it was tested whether oral intake of a β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) mineral salt mixture could increase ketonemia in Wistar rats without any other dietary changes, thereby being a useful model to study ketones effects alone on metabolism.