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Cataplerosis is the process by which intermediate products of the citric acid cycle (TCA cycle) in the mitochondria are removed for use in other biochemical pathways. This removal is necessary to prevent the accumulation of these intermediates in the mitochondrial matrix. The term “cataplerosis” comes from Greek, where “kata-” means “downward” or “way” and “plerosis” means “filling,” indicating the removal or exit of substances from a circuit or system
The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA) / Citric acid cycle cannot fully oxidize four or five carbon intermediates, necessitating a series of reactions capable of efficiently removing these intermediates to prevent their accumulation.
Examples are: acetylcholine and lipid synthesis from citrate, or amino acid synthesis from alfa-ketoglutarate and oxaloacetate.