How Is Uric Acid Synthesized

Uric acid is synthesized mainly in the liver, intestines and the vascular endothelium as the end product of an exogenous pool of purines, and endogenously from damaged, dying and dead cells, whereby nucleic acids, adenine and guanine, are degraded into uric acid.

How is purine converted to uric acid?

Uric acid is generated from metabolic conversion of either exogenous (dietary) or endogenous purines, primarily in the liver and intestine. The immediate precursor of uric acid is xanthine, which is metabolized to uric acid by either xanthine oxidase or by its isoform, xanthine dehydrogenase.

What is uric acid a byproduct of?

Uric acid is a byproduct of the xanthine oxidase (XO) mediated degradation of purines, a pathway that produces ROS and is upregulated in hypertension. From: Biomarkers in Cardiovascular Disease, 2019.