Uric acid

Uric acid is a nitrogen-containing organic compound produced during purine breakdown. Humans excrete it mainly in urine, while some animals use it as their principal nitrogenous waste.

Purine metabolism: The synthesis, recycling, and breakdown of purine nucleotides in cells. Uric acid is the final product of purine breakdown in humans.
Gout: An inflammatory arthritis caused by monosodium urate crystals forming in joints and surrounding tissues. Excess urate can form crystals that trigger gout attacks.
Adenine: A purine nucleobase found in DNA, RNA, ATP, and other biological molecules. Its breakdown contributes to the purine pool that ultimately produces uric acid.
Urea: A nitrogen-containing waste compound produced mainly by the liver and excreted in urine by mammals. Humans convert most nitrogen waste to urea, whereas uric acid is a smaller waste pathway.
Xanthine oxidase: An enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of hypoxanthine to xanthine and xanthine to uric acid. It performs the final two oxidation steps in human uric acid production.
Hyperuricemia: An abnormally high concentration of urate in the blood. It raises the likelihood of urate crystal formation but does not always cause gout.
Guanine: A purine nucleobase found in DNA and RNA. Its degradation feeds into pathways that end in uric acid.
Ammonia: A toxic nitrogen-containing compound produced during metabolism and excreted directly by many aquatic animals. Ammonia is more soluble and toxic than uric acid, but requires abundant water for safe excretion.
Urate: The ionized form of uric acid that predominates in blood at physiological pH. Most circulating uric acid exists as urate, which can crystallize when concentrations rise.
Tumor lysis syndrome: A metabolic emergency caused by the rapid release of cellular contents when many tumor cells die. Purines released during rapid cell breakdown can sharply increase uric acid production.

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