butyrate

1. (organic chemistry) Any salt or ester of butyric acid.Examples: "It is butyrate, however, which is the fatty acid of most importance to the colonic epithelial cell. Apart from being an important respiratory fuel for the colonocyte, butyrate has remarkably diverse properties in a wide range of cells."; "Another question to be raised is the possible use of butyrate in the lipogenic pathway. Even though the carbons from butyrate could be incorporated into lipid extracts [12], this incorporation represents less than 1 % of CO₂, and TKB productions."; "To examine the effects of sodium butyrate on virus production, cells were exposed to sodium butyrate at various concentrations and times starting 16 h after transfection."Synonyms: butanoate