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Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors are a class of medication used primarily for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure. This class of medicine works by causing relaxation of blood vessels as well as a decrease in blood volume, which leads to lower blood pressure and decreased oxygen demand from the heart.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are members of a therapeutic drug class which reduces pain, decreases inflammation, decreases fever, and prevents blood clots. Side effects depend on the specific drug, its dose and duration of use, but largely include an increased risk of gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeds, heart attack, and kidney disease.
Uric acid is a heterocyclic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen with the formula C5H4N4O3. It forms ions and salts known as urates and acid urates, such as ammonium acid urate. Uric acid is a product of the metabolic breakdown of purine nucleotides, and it is a normal component of urine. High blood concentrations of uric acid can lead to gout and are associated with other medical conditions, including diabetes and the formation of ammonium acid urate kidney stones.
Kidney stone disease, also known as renal calculus disease, nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material develops in the urinary tract. Renal calculi typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine stream. A small calculus may pass without causing symptoms. If a stone grows to more than 5 millimeters, it can cause blockage of the ureter, resulting in sharp and severe pain in the lower back that often radiates downward to the groin. A calculus may also result in blood in the urine, vomiting, or painful urination. About half of people who have had a renal calculus are likely to have another within ten years.
Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensity in less than 12 hours. The joint at the base of the big toe is affected (Podagra) in about half of cases. It may also result in tophi, kidney stones, or kidney damage.
Supercooling, also known as undercooling, is the process of lowering the temperature of a liquid below its freezing point without it becoming a solid. As per the established international definition, supercooling means ‘cooling a substance below the normal freezing point without solidification’ While it can be achieved by different physical means, the postponed solidification is most often due to the absence of seed crystals or nuclei around which a crystal structure can form. The supercooling of water can be achieved without any special techniques other than chemical demineralization, down to −48.3 °C (−54.9 °F). Supercooled water can occur naturally, for example in the atmosphere, animals or plants.
Hyperuricaemia or hyperuricemia is an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood. In the pH conditions of body fluid, uric acid exists largely as urate, the ion form. Serum uric acid concentrations greater than 6 mg/dL for females, 7 mg/dL for males, and 5.5 mg/dL for youth are defined as hyperuricemia. The amount of urate in the body depends on the balance between the amount of purines eaten in food, the amount of urate synthesised within the body, and the amount of urate that is excreted in urine or through the gastrointestinal tract. Hyperuricemia may be the result of increased production of uric acid, decreased excretion of uric acid, or both increased production and reduced excretion.
Arginase (EC 3.5.3.1, arginine amidinase, canavanase, L-arginase, arginine transamidinase) is a manganese-containing enzyme. The reaction catalyzed by this enzyme is:
Fosinopril is an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor used for the treatment of hypertension and some types of chronic heart failure. Fosinopril is the only phosphonate-containing ACE inhibitor marketed, by Bristol-Myers Squibb under the trade name Monopril. Fosinopril is a cascading pro-drug. The special niche for the medication that differentiates it from the other members of the ACE Inhibitor drug class is that was specifically developed for the use for patients with renal impairment. This was through manipulation of the metabolism and excretion, and is seen that fifty percent of the drug is hepatobiliary cleared, which can compensate for diminished renal clearance. The remaining fifty percent is excreted in urine. It does not need dose adjustment.
5α-Reductases, also known as 3-oxo-5α-steroid 4-dehydrogenases, are enzymes involved in steroid metabolism. They participate in three metabolic pathways: bile acid biosynthesis, androgen and estrogen metabolism. There are three isozymes of 5α-reductase encoded by the genes SRD5A1, SRD5A2, and SRD5A3.
In thermodynamics, nucleation is the first step in the formation of either a new thermodynamic phase or structure via self-assembly or self-organization within a substance or mixture. Nucleation is typically defined to be the process that determines how long an observer has to wait before the new phase or self-organized structure appears. For example, if a volume of water is cooled significantly below 0 °C, it will tend to freeze into ice, but volumes of water cooled only a few degrees below 0 °C often stay completely free of ice for long periods (supercooling). At these conditions, nucleation of ice is either slow or does not occur at all. However, at lower temperatures nucleation is fast, and ice crystals appear after little or no delay.
Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRTase) is an enzyme encoded by the APRT gene, found in humans on chromosome 16. It is part of the Type I PRTase family and is involved in the nucleotide salvage pathway, which provides an alternative to nucleotide biosynthesis de novo in humans and most other animals. In parasitic protozoa such as giardia, APRTase provides the sole mechanism by which AMP can be produced. APRTase deficiency contributes to the formation of kidney stones (urolithiasis) and to potential kidney failure.
Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by mutations of the APRT gene. Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) catalyzes the creation of pyrophosphate and adenosine monophosphate from 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate and adenine. Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase is a purine salvage enzyme. Genetic mutations of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase make large amounts of 2,8-Dihydroxyadenine causing urolithiasis and renal failure.
Dipeptidyl peptidase-4, also known as adenosine deaminase complexing protein 2 or CD26 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the DPP4 gene. DPP4 is related to FAP, DPP8, and DPP9. The enzyme was discovered in 1966 by Hopsu-Havu and Glenner, and as a result of various studies on chemism, was called dipeptidyl peptidase IV [DP IV].
Khellin has been used as an herbal folk medicine, with use in the Mediterranean dating back to Ancient Egypt, to treat a variety of maladies including: renal colic, kidney stones, coronary disease, bronchial asthma, vitiligo, and psoriasis. It is a major constituent of the plant Visnaga daucoides, also known as Ammi visnaga and as bishop's weed. Once purified, khellin exists as colorless, odorless, bitter-tasting needle-shaped crystals and is classified as a gamma-pyrone, a furanochromone derivative. In the early 20th century, researchers searched for khellin analogs with lower toxicity and better efficacy. A number of drugs were discovered through this research, such as amiodarone and cromolyn sodium, which are used in current medical practice. Efloxate is also mentioned as analog.
Serine dehydratase or L-serine ammonia lyase (SDH) is in the β-family of pyridoxal phosphate-dependent (PLP) enzymes. SDH is found widely in nature, but its structure and properties vary among species. SDH is found in yeast, bacteria, and the cytoplasm of mammalian hepatocytes. SDH catalyzes the deamination of L-serine to yield pyruvate, with the release of ammonia.
Aldo-keto reductase family 1, member B1 (AKR1B1) is an gene in humans that encodes the enzyme aldose reductase. It is a reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-dependent enzyme catalyzing the reduction of various aldehydes and ketones to the corresponding alcohol. The involvement of AKR1B1 in oxidative stress diseases, cell signal transduction, and cell proliferation process endows AKR1B1 with potential as a therapeutic target.
Mineralized tissues are biological tissues that incorporate minerals into soft matrices. Typically these tissues form a protective shield or structural support. Bone, mollusc shells, deep sea sponge Euplectella species, radiolarians, diatoms, antler bone, tendon, cartilage, tooth enamel and dentin are some examples of mineralized tissues.
Visnagin is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C13H10O4 It is a furanochromone, a compound derivative of chromone (1,4-benzopyrone) and furan.
RiAFP refers to an antifreeze protein (AFP) produced by the Rhagium inquisitor longhorned beetle. It is a type V antifreeze protein with a molecular weight of 12.8 kDa; this type of AFP is noted for its hyperactivity. R. inquisitor is a freeze-avoidant species, meaning that, due to its AFP, R. inquisitor prevents its body fluids from freezing altogether. This contrasts with freeze-tolerant species, whose AFPs simply depress levels of ice crystal formation in low temperatures. Whereas most insect antifreeze proteins contain cysteines at least every sixth residue, as well as varying numbers of 12- or 13-mer repeats of 8.3-12.5kDa, RiAFP is notable for containing only one disulfide bridge. This property of RiAFP makes it particularly attractive for recombinant expression and biotechnological applications.
References
- ↑ Asplin, J.; DeGanello, S.; Nakagawa, Y. N.; Coe, F. L. (November 1991). "Evidence that nephrocalcin and urine inhibit nucleation of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals". The American Journal of Physiology. 261 (5 Pt 2): F824–830. doi:10.1152/ajprenal.1991.261.5.F824. ISSN 0002-9513. PMID 1951713.
- ↑ Negri, A. L.; Spivacow, F. R. (2023-03-25). "Kidney stone matrix proteins: Role in stone formation". World Journal of Nephrology. 12 (2): 21–28. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v12.i2.21 . PMC 10075018 . PMID 37035509.