uric acid

uric acid

a white odourless tasteless crystalline product of protein metabolism, present in the blood and urine; 2,6,8-trihydroxypurine. Formula: C₅H₄N₄O₃

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Uric acid

The main excretory end product of protein metabolism in certain species of birds and reptiles. In mammals, uric acid is derived from purines; in higher primates, including humans, it is excreted as such and is not oxidized to allantoin, the main excretory purine metabolism product of most species. In humans, uric acid levels are increased following excessive intake of dietary purines, primary synthesis in certain diseases (gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome), endogenous nucleic acid metabolism (leukemia, an abnormal number of erythrocytes in blood, chemotherapy-induced tumor lysis), and restricted renal excretion (renal diseases, ketoacidosis, lacticidosis, diuretics). Uric acid levels are lowered by the use of drugs causing increased uric acid excretion, and by renal tubular defects. See Liver, Nucleic acid, Protein metabolism, Purine

McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Bioscience. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

uric acid

[′yu̇r·ik ′as·əd]

(biochemistry)

C₅H₄N₄O₃ A white, crystalline compound, the excretory end product in amino acid metabolism by uricotelic species.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Uric Acid

 

(2,6,8-trioxypurine), a colorless, crystalline solid that is very slightly soluble in water and that decomposes below the melting point. Uric acid, which was discovered in 1776 by K. Scheele as a component of urine, can exist in two forms— keto and enol:

In man and primates, uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism, forming as a result of the enzymatic oxidation of xanthine; in all other mammals, uric acid is converted into allantoin. The brain, liver, and blood of all mammals and man, as well as the urine and sweat, contain small quantities of uric acid. Some metabolic disorders are characterized by an accumulation in the body of uric acid and of uric acid salts (called urates); gouty deposits and the formation of stones in the kidneys and urinary bladder often accompany these metabolic disorders.

In birds, some reptiles, and most terrestrial insects, uric acid is the end product not only of purine metabolism but also of protein metabolism. Because an organism requires only a minimal amount of water in order to eliminate uric acid from the body (uric acid can even be eliminated as a solid), these animals, which have a limited water balance, use the uric acid biosynthetic pathway as the primary mechanism for neutralizing ammonia. (The neutralization is advantageous because ammonia is a more toxic product of nitrogen metabolism than uric acid.) This mechanism is in contrast to the mechanism found in most vertebrates, which have a more complete water balance and thus use the urea biosynthetic pathway as a means of neutralizing ammonia. (Urea requires much water to be safely eliminated from the body.)

Up to 25 percent of avian excrement, or guano, is uric acid; thus, the excrement serves as a source for obtaining uric acid. Uric acid is also found in a number of plants. It is the starting material for the synthesis of caffeine.

REFERENCES

Prosser, C. L., and F. Brown. Sravnitel’naia fiziologiia zhivotnykh. Moscow, 1967. (Translated from English.)

E. N. SAFONOVA

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.