What Does Citrate Do for the Body? Functions, Benefits, and More

November 30, 2025 •

3 min read

Approximately 90% of the body's total citrate is stored in bone tissue, highlighting its crucial role beyond just being a component of citrus fruits. Understanding what does citrate do for the body is key to appreciating its diverse and essential functions, from cellular metabolism to mineral absorption.

Quick Summary

This article explains citrate's diverse and vital functions, including its central role in energy metabolism via the Krebs cycle, its contribution to bone strength, and its preventative effects against kidney stones. It also covers how citrate helps regulate acid-base balance and its medical applications.

Key Points

Cellular Energy Production: Citrate is the starting molecule in the Krebs cycle, the main metabolic pathway responsible for generating ATP (energy) from nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
Bone Structural Integrity: The majority of the body's citrate is incorporated into hydroxyapatite nanocrystals, providing essential structural stability and strength to bones.
Kidney Stone Prevention: Citrate inhibits calcium-containing kidney stones by chelating urinary calcium, preventing crystal aggregation, and raising urine pH.
pH Regulation and Acidosis Treatment: By yielding bicarbonate during metabolism, citrate acts as a systemic buffer. Citrate salts are prescribed to treat metabolic acidosis and alkalinize urine.
Medical Anticoagulation: Outside the body, citrate is used to prevent blood clotting in transfused blood or during procedures like dialysis by binding to calcium.
Gene Expression Regulation: Citrate can be converted to acetyl-CoA in the cytoplasm, which is used for histone acetylation, a modification that influences gene expression and cell function.

Citrate: The Central Hub of Energy Metabolism

At the core of cellular energy production is the Krebs cycle, also known as the citric acid cycle, a series of chemical reactions that produce the energy currency of the cell, ATP. Citrate is the starting molecule for this process. Acetyl-CoA, from the breakdown of nutrients, combines with oxaloacetate to form citrate in the mitochondria. Citrate is then oxidized, generating high-energy electron carriers (NADH and FADH2) and carbon dioxide. These carriers drive ATP production in the electron transport chain, powering cellular activities. This cycle is essential for extracting energy from food.

The Critical Role of Citrate in Bone Health

Most of the body's citrate resides in bones, where it's vital for the bone matrix. Citrate is a key component of hydroxyapatite crystals that provide bone strength. It binds to these crystals, regulating their size and contributing to bone stability and fracture resistance. Citrate is also involved in bone remodeling, secreted by bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) and released during bone breakdown by osteoclasts, fueling this process.

Citrate's Defense Against Kidney Stones

Citrate is a major preventative agent against kidney stones, especially calcium-based types. Low urinary citrate (hypocitraturia) is a risk factor for stone formation. Citrate prevents stones by binding to calcium in urine, reducing free calcium available for crystal formation. It also inhibits crystal growth and aggregation. Additionally, citrate increases urinary pH, helping to prevent uric acid stones which form in acidic urine.

Citrate in Acid-Base Homeostasis and Clinical Use

Citrate helps maintain the body's acid-base balance. When metabolized, it produces bicarbonate, a buffer neutralizing excess acid in the blood. This is why citrate salts are used to treat metabolic acidosis, a condition of high blood acidity. Citrate salts like sodium or potassium citrate help patients with kidney issues manage pH levels. In medicine, citrate's calcium-binding property prevents blood clotting in procedures like dialysis and in transfused blood.

Comparison of Citrate's Key Bodily Functions


Feature	Role in Energy Metabolism	Role in Bone Health	Role in Kidney Stone Prevention
Mechanism	Serves as the starting molecule for the Krebs cycle in mitochondria, producing energy-rich intermediates.	Acts as a structural component within hydroxyapatite crystals, contributing to bone strength and stability.	Binds to calcium in urine (chelation) and directly inhibits the growth of calcium-based crystals.
Metabolic Impact	Fuels cellular processes by generating ATP from the oxidation of fats, carbs, and proteins.	Supports the dynamic process of bone remodeling by regulating the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts.	Alters urinary pH and reduces calcium supersaturation, preventing crystal formation in the urinary tract.
Clinical Application	Fundamental biological process; disruptions can affect overall energy production.	Calcium citrate supplements and dietary citrate can support bone mineralization.	Potassium citrate and increased fluid/citrus intake can treat hypocitraturia and prevent stone recurrence.

Other Emerging Roles and Related Considerations

Research indicates citrate's influence extends to metabolic signaling and gene regulation. It can provide acetyl-CoA in the cytoplasm for histone acetylation, which modifies gene expression and affects bone remodeling and immune responses. Citrate also influences fatty acid and amino acid synthesis, contributing to metabolic adjustments.

Conclusion: Citrate's Far-Reaching Significance

Citrate is a fundamental molecule vital for health, playing diverse roles from energy production and bone structure to preventing kidney stones and maintaining acid-base balance. Its central role in the Krebs cycle fuels cells, while its integration into bone provides strength. Clinically, it's used as an anticoagulant and to manage metabolic acidosis. Emerging research on its signaling roles in gene expression and metabolism highlights its broader influence. Maintaining adequate citrate, through diet or supplements under medical guidance, is crucial for supporting various bodily functions and preventing health issues.

Key Factors Affecting Citrate Levels

Diet significantly impacts citrate levels; high animal protein lowers urinary citrate, while fruits and vegetables increase it. Certain medications, genetic factors, and gastrointestinal disorders also influence citrate handling.

The Future of Citrate Research and Medicine

Citrate remains a focus of research due to its roles in metabolism, bone, and signaling. Understanding its regulation, especially in metabolic reprogramming and gene expression, could lead to new treatments for conditions like osteoporosis. Its potential as a therapeutic target is an active research area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Natural sources of citrate are primarily citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit. It can also be found in smaller amounts in berries, pineapple, and some vegetables like tomatoes.

Citrate prevents kidney stones by binding to calcium in the urine, reducing the formation of calcium-containing crystals. It also inhibits crystal aggregation and can increase urinary pH, which helps dissolve uric acid stones.

Citric acid is the molecular form of citrate. In the body, at a physiological pH, citric acid is primarily in its ionized form, known as citrate. The two are closely related and often used interchangeably.

Low urinary citrate levels, known as hypocitraturia, are a significant risk factor for kidney stone formation. It can result from metabolic acidosis, chronic diarrhea, or high animal protein intake.

Yes, citrate is available in supplements, typically as salts like potassium citrate, sodium citrate, or calcium citrate. These are often used to treat kidney stones or to enhance mineral absorption.

Citrate is a central molecule in the Krebs cycle, a metabolic process that occurs in the mitochondria of cells. In this cycle, citrate is broken down to produce the energy required for cellular activity.

Metabolic acidosis is a condition characterized by too much acid in the blood. Citrate salts act as urinary and systemic alkalinizers. They are metabolized by the body into bicarbonate, a substance that neutralizes excess acid in the blood.

Yes, citrate is critical for bone health. It is a key structural component of the hydroxyapatite crystals in bone mineral, providing strength and resistance to fractures.

While chemically identical, manufactured citric acid is produced differently (using mold) than the citrate naturally found in citrus fruits. Concerns, though rare, about reactions to mold residues from manufactured forms can occur.

In medical procedures like dialysis, citrate is used to prevent blood clotting in the circuit. It works by binding to calcium ions, which are essential for blood clotting, thereby inhibiting the process.