Description

• General description: Uric acid is the terminal product of purine degradation in humans.[1] It is formed from the action of xanthine oxidase upon xanthine. Elevated levels of uric acid may clinically be manifested as gout. In species other than humans, uric acid can be further metabolized. In mammals other than primates, uric acid is converted to allantoin.[1] In teleost fish, allantoin is further converted to allantoate, which is hydrolyzed to urea and glyoxylate. Uric acid may also be used in the biosynthesis of purines. It has been studied as a scavenger of biological free radicals like peroxynitrite.[2][1] High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods for uric acid have been published. Uric acid promotes monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression in vascular smooth muscle cells.[3]
• Application: Uric acid has been used: to prepare monosodium urate (MSU) crystals to study its effect on nuclear localization leucine-rich-repeat protein 1 (NLRP1) gene expression[2] as a reductant to test its protective potential against met-myoglobin formation[4]to prepare MSU to study its use as specific ligand of Clec12a[5].