98%
921
2 minutes
20
Approximately 15% of US adults have circulating levels of uric acid above its solubility limit, which is causally linked to the disease gout. In most mammals, uric acid elimination is facilitated by the enzyme uricase. However, human uricase is a pseudogene, having been inactivated early in hominid evolution. Though it has long been known that uric acid is eliminated in the gut, the role of the gut microbiota in hyperuricemia has not been studied. Here, we identify a widely distributed bacterial gene cluster that encodes a pathway for uric acid degradation. Stable isotope tracing demonstrates that gut bacteria metabolize uric acid to xanthine or short chain fatty acids. Ablation of the microbiota in uricase-deficient mice causes severe hyperuricemia, and anaerobe-targeted antibiotics increase the risk of gout in humans. These data reveal a role for the gut microbiota in uric acid excretion and highlight the potential for microbiome-targeted therapeutics in hyperuricemia.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10421625 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.06.010 | DOI Listing |
Chem Biodivers
September 2025
Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People's Republic of China.
Usnic acid, a compound from Usneae Filum, has shown notable antitumor effects. Nevertheless, the mechanism of its anti-NSCLC action remains incompletely elucidated. This study used metabolomics, network pharmacology, molecular docking, and dynamics simulation to investigate usnic acid's potential mechanism on NSCLC utilizing A549 cell samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Cardiol
September 2025
Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, P.R. China.
Uric acid to HDL ratio (UHR) is a new measure of inflammation that has been widely used to study cardiovascular disease relationships. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between uric acid to HDL ratio and hypertension. We found that UHR was positively associated with hypertension prevalence in a nationally representative sample of U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand)
September 2025
Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh-Punjab 147301, India.
Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, contributing to significant morbidity and mortality. Despite its growing prevalence, no FDA-approved pharmacological treatments exist, leaving lifestyle modifications as the primary intervention. AFLD pathogenesis involves a complex interplay of lipid accumulation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and inflammation, highlighting the need for innovative therapeutic approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropsychiatr Dis Treat
August 2025
Geriatric Medicine Department II, Qingdao Mental Health Center, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
Purpose: Previous studies have shown that serum uric acid (UA) levels are significantly higher in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) than in patients with depressive disorder (DD), schizophrenia, and healthy controls. Currently, studies generally report that there is a complex bidirectional interaction between mood disorders (MD) and hyperuricemia (HUA). We investigated the prevalence and related factors of hyperuricemia in Chinese patients with mood disorders to find out potential mechanisms and build a predictive model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Pharmacol
August 2025
The First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a prevalent metabolic disorder driven by dysregulated purine metabolism and impaired urate excretion, and robust animal models are critical for elucidating its pathophysiology and guiding therapy development. This review systematically examines chemically induced, gene-edited, environmental, exercise and microbiota-based HUA models across rodents, poultry, primates, zebrafish and silkworms, highlighting each model's strengths and limitations in mimicking human uric acid handling. We discuss how these models have validated standard urate-lowering treatments-such as xanthine oxidase inhibitors and uricosurics-and uncovered emerging therapeutic targets, including the gut-NLRP3 inflammasome axis and SIRT1-mediated ABCG2 regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF