Medium chain triglycerides oil liquid
Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are triglycerides made up of a glycerol backbone and three fatty acids with an aliphatic tail of six to 12 carbon atoms.
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Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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4 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary.
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 22 · Randomised trials: 13 · 1964–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Karen Mumme, Welma Stonehouse
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2015
- Body Composition
- Energy Intake
- Energy Metabolism
Elizabeth Neal, Hannah Chaffe, Ruby H. Schwartz, et al.
Epilepsia, 2008
- Age Factors
- Anticonvulsants
- Epilepsy
Erika Tomsits, M Pataki, Andrea Tölgyesi, et al.
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 2010
- Olive Oil
- Body Weight
- Fat Emulsions, Intravenous
Konstantinos Avgerinos, Josephine M. Egan, Mark P. Mattson, et al.
Ageing Research Reviews, 2019
- Alzheimer Disease
- Cognition Disorders
- Ketosis
P. Schönfeld, L. Wojtczak
Journal of Lipid Research, 2016
Qing Xu, Yong Zhang, Xinsheng Zhang, et al.
Clinical Nutrition, 2019
- Beijing
- Activities of Daily Living
- Alzheimer Disease
He H, Liu K, Liu M, et al.
2024
- Obesity
- Weight Loss
- Triglycerides
Guo-Hao Wu, O. Zaniolo, Heidi Schuster, et al.
Clinical nutrition, 2017
Nike Meer, Tobias Fischer
Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2024
André Bach, VK Babayan
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1982
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
11 minutes
Mechanism
Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are broken down into glycerol and medium-chain…
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
[A33175][L41588]
They passively and directly diffuse across the gastrointestinal tract into the portal system then to liver, where they are oxidized.
[A246933][L41588]…
Half-life
11 minutes
[A33174]
Protein binding
[L41588]
Volume of distribution
4.5 L
Metabolism
[A246688][L41340][L41588]…
Elimination
Clearance
0.34 mL
[A33179]
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[L41340]
MCTs are also available as over-the-counter natural products and health supplements.
[A246913]
Fat overload syndrome is a condition rarely reported with the use of intravenous lipid emulsions that is most frequently observed when the recommended lipid dose or infusion rate was exceeded. However, some cases still occurred when the lipid formulation was administered according to instructions. Fat overload syndrome results from a reduced or limited ability to metabolize lipids, accompanied by prolonged plasma clearance, leading to a sudden deterioration in the patient's condition.
[L41340]
If signs or symptoms of fat overload syndrome occur, stop the infusion of medium chain triglyceride-containing emulsions until triglyceride levels have normalized and symptoms have abated.
The effects are usually reversible by stopping the lipid infusion. If medically appropriate, further intervention may be indicated. Lipids are not dialyzable from plasma.
[L41340]
Fatty acids may mediate their effects on energy expenditure, food consumption, and fat deposition by upregulating the expression and protein levels of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolism via activating Akt and AMPK signaling pathways and inhibiting the TGF-β signaling pathway. It is proposed that the promotion of weight loss by MCTs may be due to sympathetic activation of brown fat thermogenesis.[A246688]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A33175][L41588]
They passively and directly diffuse across the gastrointestinal tract into the portal system then to liver, where they are oxidized.
[A246933][L41588]
[A33174]
[L41588]
[A33174]
[A246688][L41340][L41588]
Free fatty acids then undergo β-oxidation in the organs such as the liver, kidneys, and heart. Alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid are metabolized within a common biochemical pathway through a series of desaturation and elongation steps. Downstream products of alpha-linolenic acid are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and linoleic acid is converted to arachidonic acid.
[L41340]
[A33179]
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
PMID:19021548
Major calcium and magnesium transporter in plasma, binds approximately 45% of circulating calcium and magnesium in plasma (By similarity).
Potentially has more than two calcium-binding sites and might additionally bind calcium in a non-specific manner (By similarity). The shared binding site between zinc and calcium at residue Asp-273 suggests a crosstalk between zinc and calcium transport in the blood (By similarity). The rank order of affinity is zinc > calcium > magnesium (By similarity).
Binds to the bacterial siderophore enterobactin and inhibits enterobactin-mediated iron uptake of E.coli from ferric transferrin, and may thereby limit the utilization of iron and growth of enteric bacteria such as E.coli .
PMID:6234017
Does not prevent iron uptake by the bacterial siderophore aerobactin PMID:6234017
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Medium-chain triglycerides
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q418295), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.