Orotic Acid

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Orotic Acid: Synthesis, Biochemical Aspects and Physiological Role

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. New Growth Factor?

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 3-6

   3. Pathway of Pyrimidine Synthesis de Novo

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 7-13

   4. Aggregation of Enzymes of the Orotate Pathway

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 14-17

   5. Efficiency and Regulation of Pyrimidine Synthesis

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 18-22

   6. Alterations in Orotic Acid Excretion

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 23-25

   7. Inhibitors of the Orotate Pathway

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 26-30

   8. Induction of Fatty Liver in Rats

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 31-34

   9. Physiological Effects

      • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

      Pages 35-40

   10. Orotic Acid in Human Therapy

       • Alois Čihák, Werner Reutter

       Pages 41-45

3. Back Matter

   Pages 49-118

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This volume reviews a series of different publications dealing with orotic acid. Orotic acid was isolated from cow's milk 75 years ago by Biscaro and Belloni in Italy. Fifty years later again Italian scientists described the growth-promoting activity of orotic acid in vitamin B -deficient animals. 12 Orotic acid is the precursor of pyrimidine nucleotides which are involved in many biochemical reactions: UTP and CTP, as substrates for RNA polymerase, and UDP sugars, as substrates for carbohydrate containing macromolecules, e.g. glycogen, glycoproteins and glycolipids. The biosynthesis of these pyrimidines is well regulated. Disturbance of the biosynthetic pathway or trapping of individual pyrimidine nucleotides may lead to severe metabolic and structural alterations of cells. Synthesis, biochemical aspects and physiological role are reviewed in nine chapters. In the last two decades increasing interest in orotic acid came from several studies showing protective or therapeutic or beneficial effects of this compound in different kinds of organ injuries: various forms of hepatic insufficiency, myocardial infarction, encephalopathy, memorization pro­ cesses, mentioned in Chapters 8 and 9. At the end of this overview a Bibliography in an alphabetical order with 673 references may give further insight in this topic.

• biosynthesis
• carbohydrate
• cells
• efficiency
• enzymes
• fatty liver
• glycogen
• growth
• growth factor
• liver
• molecule
• myocardial infarction
• organ
• regulation
• therapy
• hepatology

• Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czechoslovakia Academy of Sciences Prague, Czechoslovakia

  Alois Čihák

• Institut für Molekularbiologie und Biochemie der Freien Universität, Berlin, Germany

  Werner Reutter

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