Uricase is an enzyme in the metabolic pathway of purine degradation in organisms. In birds, reptiles and primates, excluding humans, it uses molecular oxygen as a receptor to catalyze the oxidation of uric acid to produce allantoin and carbon dioxide. And hydrogen peroxide. Uricase was first found in the kidneys of cattle. Subsequently, this enzyme was found in animals, plants, fungi, yeast and bacteria.

1. The role of uricase

As an important oxidant: Some scholars have proposed that it is the lack of uricase that leads to a selective advantage, because the lack of uricase leads to an increase in serum uric acid content, and uric acid acts as an important antioxidant in physiological activities.

Uric acid accumulates to form hyperuricemia and then a series of diseases such as gout: Allantoin has good solubility in the body, and it is directly excreted from the body without accumulation. Uric acid is used as the end product of purine metabolism. Purine metabolism disorders in the body can increase the level of uric acid and form hyperuricemia. The low solubility and easy deposition of uric acid and its salts in the blood make hyperuricemia become The direct cause of acute renal failure in the treatment of gout and other diseases and tumors, according to the biochemical mechanism of gout, uricase should be an ideal drug for the treatment of this disease.

2. The application of uricase in clinical treatment

Gout is a group of heterogeneous diseases in which long-term purine metabolism disorder and increased blood uric acid cause tissue damage. Its characteristics are: hyperuricemia, recurrent episodes of characteristic acute arthritis, sodium urate crystals, tophi or renal uric acid stones can be seen in joint synovial fluid. Uric acid is mainly decomposed from nucleic acids and other purine analogues and purines in food through enzyme action. Due to the lack of functional uricase in the human body, uric acid cannot be further decomposed as the end product of purine metabolism. The concentration of uric acid in the blood depends on the balance between uric acid production and excretion.

Uricase is one of the ideal drugs for the treatment of gout, especially for patients who are contraindicated with conventional therapies or whose use of conventional therapies is ineffective.

For the treatment of gout, drugs that excrete uric acid or inhibit the synthesis of uric acid are generally used to maintain the blood uric acid concentration within the normal range. Uric acid drugs include sulfonamide, benzophenone, and benzophenone, which inhibit the reabsorption of uric acid in the renal tubules and increase its excretion, thereby reducing blood uric acid concentration.

The drugs that inhibit the synthesis of uric acid include allopurinol, which is a competitive inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, which reduces the synthesis of uric acid. However, allopurinol increases the concentration of xanthine. In fact, the solubility of xanthine is lower than that of uric acid, and some patients will experience renal damage and deposition of xanthine. Therefore, allopurinol has certain side effects. Uricase can convert uric acid into allantoin, which is far more soluble than uric acid, and is a valuable drug for the treatment of gout and hyperuricemia.

Desheng's uricase products are mainly used in biochemical kits and in vitro diagnostic tests. The various enzyme preparations supplied for experimental research are recognized at home and abroad.