metabolic

adj.
Of, relating to, or resulting from metabolism.

[Greek metabolikos, changeable, from metabolē, change. See metabolism.]

metabolically met'a·bol'i·cal·ly adv.

Pertaining to internal metabolism.

• m. acidemia — acidemia due to metabolic error.
• m. bone disease — includes a range of bone diseases associated with metabolic diseases, e.g. secondary hyperparathyroidism, rickets and osteoporosis.
• m. defect — generally an inherited defect that is present at birth, but which is not necessarily evident clinically for several months afterwards. The defect creates a metabolic error, which leads to the accumulation of end products which cause clinical signs, e.g. mannosidosis, porphyria or an exaggerated response from an end-organ, e.g. inherited goiter. See also inborn error of metabolism.
• m. diseases — diseases in which normal metabolic processes are disturbed and a resulting absence or shortfall of a normal metabolite causes disease, e.g. hypocalcemia in cows, or an accumulation of the end products of metabolism causes a clinical illness, e.g. acetonemia of dairy cows. Many diseases in this group really have their beginnings in a nutritional deficiency state. See also production diseases.
• m. encephalopathy — many disorders of metabolism can lead to neurologic abnormalities through alterations in electrolytes and acid–base balance, accumulation of endogenous toxins. See also encephalopathy.
• m. error — see metabolic defect (above).
• m. inhibition technique — a virus neutralization test in tissue culture in which phenol-red indicator is used to detect the acid metabolic products of actively metabolizing cells or the lack of metabolism when cells are infected and destroyed by the virus.
• m. laminitis — see laminitis.
• m. myopathies — muscular dystrophies caused by metabolic defects; include systemic glycogenoses, deposits of a PAS-positive glycoprotein, the lipid storage disease of cats caused by carnitine deficiency.
• m. pathways — groupings of enzymic processes leading to the synthesis or breakdown of carbohydrates, amino acids and lipids.
• m. polymyopathy — a muscle disease associated with a metabolic disorder, e.g. hyperadrenocorticism.
• m. polyneuropathy — a disease of the nerves associated with a metabolic disorder, e.g. uremia, diabetes mellitus or hypothyroidism.
• m. profile — results of a spectrum of tests of metabolic functions.
• m. profile test — see compton metabolic profile test.
• m. rate — the rate of energy metabolism in the body. The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate of energy consumption by the body when it is completely at rest.
• m. syndrome — characterized by hypertension, insulin resistance, an abnormal plasma lipid profile, and obesity.
• m. toxins — include histamine, other toxic amines, ketone bodies, phenols and cresols from the large intestine, which are normal end-products of metabolism and indigestion but if their normal excretion and detoxication are impeded, cause intoxication. See also toxin.
• m. water — the water produced in the body by oxidative metabolism of food; it represents 5–10% of the body's water utilization.

IN BRIEF: Relating to the process in which food is changed into energy, new cells, and waste products in plants and animals.

Photosynthesis in plants is the metabolic process that changes sunlight into food.