Contents
PURINES
What are purines?
Purines are a crucial substance which is part of the core of some proteic cells, called nucleoproteins. They are also components of many biomolecules. Purines can also act as neurotransmitters.
Why purine content in body must be controlled?
In spite of being necessary, purines amount must be controlled, because purines are precursors of uric acid production.
Too many purines in our body leads to an increasing level of uric acid, which can be responsible for gout or other body anomalies.
Where do purines come from?
There are several types of purines, depending on where we find them:
Purines from endogenous origin or endogenous purines:
When purines are produced by our own body (they come from within, we produce them ourselves), they are considered endogenous purines.
When we expose our body to long periods of non ingesting food, for example, during periods of fasting, it needs to generate energy through a system called protein catabolism.
This system uses our muscle proteins in order to obtain energy to maintain bodily functions. One of the substances that is released during this process is purines. Purines concentration in blood increases when this takes place. This increase is directly proportional to the duration of the period of fasting.
Purines from exogenous origin or exogenous purines:
These are purines that are ingested through food (from abroad). They are considered exogenous purines.
Food purines can be found in both, animal food and plant foods, although we find less purines in plant foods.
Luckily, not all the purines turn into uric acid, such as coffee (containing caffeine), tea (containing protein) or chocolate (contains theobromine).
De novo synthesis of purines:
It is a system that starts from a ribose 5-Fosfat, which is the main mechanism of primary gout.
Sugar is sucrose. Sucrose consists of two different molecules, one from glucose and one from fructose. Our body uses glucose and fructose to generate power during the process which results in a compound called ribose 5-Fosfat. This compound also causes the formation of uric acid.
* Related information: Purines in food
More information on uric acid.
