Glucuronide

A glucuronide, also known as glucuronoside, is any substance produced by linking glucuronic acid to another substance via a glycosidic bond.[1] The glucuronides belong to the glycosides.

Morphine-6-glucuronide, a major metabolite of morphine

Glucuronidation, the conversion of chemical compounds to glucuronides, is a method that animals use to assist in the excretion of toxic substances, drugs or other substances that cannot be used as an energy source. Glucuronic acid is attached via a glycosidic bond to the substance, and the resulting glucuronide, which has a much higher water solubility than the original substance, is eventually excreted by the kidneys.[2]

Enzymes that cleave the glycosidic bond of a glucuronide are called glucuronidases.

Examples

References
  1. The American Heritage Medical Dictionary, 2007, Houghton Mifflin Company
  2. Yang G, Ge S, Singh R, Basu S, Shatzer K, Zen M, et al. (May 2017). "Glucuronidation: driving factors and their impact on glucuronide disposition". Drug Metabolism Reviews. 49 (2): 105–138. doi:10.1080/03602532.2017.1293682. PMC 7660525. PMID 28266877.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.