Purine metabolism

From WikiMD's Food, Medicine & Wellness Encyclopedia

Purine Metabolism is a crucial biological process involving the metabolic pathways to synthesize and break down purines that are present in many organisms.

Overview[edit | edit source]

Purines are key components of cellular energy systems (e.g., ATP, adenosine triphosphate), signaling (e.g., GTP, guanosine triphosphate, cAMP, cyclic adenosine monophosphate), and, along with pyrimidines, RNA and DNA production.

Purine Synthesis[edit | edit source]

Purine synthesis begins with PRPP, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate, and ends with the production of IMP, inosine monophosphate, a nucleotide. IMP can then be converted into either AMP, adenosine monophosphate, or GMP, guanosine monophosphate.

Purine Salvage[edit | edit source]

Purine salvage is the recovery of purine bases and nucleosides that are formed during the degradation of nucleotides and nucleic acids. The purine bases and nucleosides can be converted back into nucleotides via salvage pathways.

Purine Degradation[edit | edit source]

Purine degradation or catabolism occurs when purine nucleotides are broken down in the body. The end product of purine degradation in humans is uric acid.

Disorders of Purine Metabolism[edit | edit source]

Disorders of purine metabolism can lead to a variety of clinical manifestations, including gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, and PRPP synthetase superactivity.

See Also[edit | edit source]

Purine metabolism Resources
Doctor showing form.jpg
Wiki.png

Navigation: Wellness - Encyclopedia - Health topics - Disease Index‏‎ - Drugs - World Directory - Gray's Anatomy - Keto diet - Recipes

Search WikiMD


Ad.Tired of being Overweight? Try W8MD's physician weight loss program.
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) available.
Advertise on WikiMD

WikiMD is not a substitute for professional medical advice. See full disclaimer.

Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.


Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD