We need to get rid of the excess fatty acid. In fact, fatty acids are the main source of fuel for the body during starvation. There is a delicate balance between having enough fatty acid around and having too much. The body normally has finely tuned mechanisms for maintaining this balance. When the balance is shifted, disease often results.
Enzymes are proteins in the body that help make chemical reactions go.
In this illustration, the first chemical reaction of fatty acid oxidation is shown. Without the enzyme, the likelihood of the fatty acid and the CoA bonding together is almost zero. This biologic compartmentation allows the body to put enzymes that need to work together in the same place. Fatty acid oxidation takes place inside two different organelles - the mitochondria and peroxisomes . The enzymes needed for fatty acid oxidation in mitochondria are different from those in peroxisomes.