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by Spixxy on July 20th, 2004

Spixxy

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What does uric acid do?

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  • by Lucasaurelius on September 9th, 2004

    Lucasaurelius

    While high levels of uric acid are abnormal in human urine (we use urea, a water-soluble compound, to get rid of our nitrogenous waste), there are plenty of animals that use water-insoluble uric acid as their main nitrogenous waste, and it's not just because they're "lower" animals (man, I hate that term). The evolutionary reason is basically water conservation. If you're looking to conserve water, as many land animals (some insects, birds, reptiles, and even some mammals) are, one great way to do it is by reducing the amount of water you require to flush out your nitrogenous waste. uric acid does this nicely, because it turns into a sort of pasty white goop which requires a LOT less water to flush out of an animal's system than an equal amount of urea. In bird poop (which is actually poop AND pee), the white stuff is the uric acid, while the chunky brown stuff is the actual poop.

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  • by Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony on July 27th, 2004

    Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony

    Uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism (purines are building blocks of RNA and DNA). Most uric acid produced in the body is excreted by the kidneys. An overproduction of uric acid occurs when there is excessive breakdown of cells, which contain purines, or an inability of the kidneys to excrete uric acid.

    It is a white odorless, tasteless, and nearly insoluble acid that is the chief nitrogenous waste present in the urine especially of lower vertebrates (as birds and reptiles), is present in small quantity in human urine.

    Greater-than-normal levels of uric acid in humans may indicate:
    acidosis
    alcoholism
    diabetes
    gout
    hypoparathyroidism
    lead poisoning
    leukemia
    nephrolithiasis
    polycythemia vera
    renal failure
    toxemia of pregnancy
    purine-rich diet
    severe exercise

    Lower-than-normal levels of uric acid in humans may indicate:
    Fanconi's syndrome
    Wilson's disease
    SIADH
    low purine diet

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