Importance of Glucuronic Acid Metabolism

Glucuronic acid is derived from glucose. It rarely exists in free form in nature, mostly in glycosides or polysaccharides. In the cell walls of plants, it is one of the components of the xylan skeleton. Glucuronic acid is an important intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism. In animals, it is combined with phenols, sterols, and aromatic carboxylic acids, and excreted as glucuronates.

After the activation of glucuronic acid into uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucuronic acid, it can be incorporated into chondroitin sulfate. In the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), glucuronic acid is also reduced to L-gulonic acid, which is a precursor to ascorbic acid. In vivo, phenol, bilirubin, or drugs can combine with glucuronic acid to form various glucuronides. In addition, some hormones such as thyroid hormones and certain steroid hormone derivatives can be detoxified by glucuronic acid.

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of synthesis of UDP-glucuronic acid. (Chung & Bhagavan, 2023)

Glucuronic Acid Analysis Service at CD BioGlyco

Glucuronic acid plays an important role in the metabolic network of organisms. With the rich experience accumulated in the field of glycobiology, CD BioGlyco has a huge advantage in glucuronic acid metabolism analysis. We analyze glucuronic acid monomers in a variety of mixed samples.

• Collection and pretreatment of samples: CD BioGlyco has specialized pretreatment methods for both solid and liquid samples. We guarantee minimal damage to the samples you provide.
• Preparation of the standard solution: A certain weight of glucuronic acid is weighed and fully dissolved in sterile water to prepare a standard solution with the desired concentration as the reference for subsequent analysis.
• Detection
  
  • Colorimetric analysis of aldonic acid: It follows the principle that in the presence of high temperature and m-hydroxydiphenyl (MHDP), furfural derivatives of sugars react with strong acids to form a pink substance. Qualitative and quantitative analysis will be carried out by spectrophotometer.
  • Analysis by gas chromatography (GC): Peak identification is carried out by comparing the relative retention time and peak area of samples and standard solutions to achieve accurate analysis of target glucuronic acid molecules in complex mixtures.
  • Detection by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC): Based on the test results of the standard solution, the retention time and peak area are used to analyze the glucuronic acid qualitatively and quantitatively in samples, respectively. At CD BioGlyco, the highly sensitive electrochemical detector is used to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the signal.
• Data analysis and report: CD BioGlyco quickly generates reliable analysis reports based on repeated test results. Detailed raw data is accessible for your review.

Fig.2 Different approaches of glucuronic acid metabolism analysis. (CD BioGlyco)

Applications

• Glucuronic acid metabolism analysis in animal body fluids, such as blood and urine
• Qualitative and quantitative analysis of glucuronic acid
• Study on the metabolic pathway of glucuronic acid

Highlights

• Simple, efficient, and gentle approach for sample preparation
• Fast, reliable, and repeatable analysis process
• Veritable analysis results
• A team of professional scientists
• Free pre-sale consultation and 24-hour after-sale service

With a customer-centric philosophy, CD BioGlyco provides accurate and affordable glucuronic acid metabolism analysis services to clients around the world. If you are interested in other Monosaccharide, Disaccharide, Oligosaccharide, and Polysaccharide Metabolism Analysis services we provide, please browse our Carbohydrate Metabolism Analysis. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

References:

1. Chung, E.H.; Bhagavan, V.N. Carbohydrate metabolism II: gluconeogenesis, glycogen synthesis and breakdown, and pentose phosphate pathway. Medical Biochemistry. 2023.
2. Wu, S.; et al. A sensitive, accurate, and high-throughput gluco-oligosaccharide oxidase-based HRP colorimetric method for assaying lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase activity. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts. 2022, 15: 15.