Diet and purinesDiet and purines
Prof David PerrettProf David Perrett
William Harvey Research InstituteBarts & the London School of Medicine
You are what you eat! You are what you eat!
or or
Gout Gout
A disease of good living ?
A disease of lifestyle?
What are you made ofWhat are you made of
ProteinFats
CarbohydratesOligonucleotides
Inorganic materials and of course Waterand of course Water
70% of your body is water
Reference Man
Reference Woman
Body Composition Methods• Direct Assessment - Cadaver (Dissection v chemical analyses)
Body Composition of 5 Cadavers
60
17
18
5
10
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Water
Protein
Fat
ASH
Remainder
Percent Body Weight
Gross Composition of Human Body
Body composition analysis often focuses on the tissue and whole body levels of multi-component model.
Fats - LipidsFats - Lipids
SugarsSugars
Bread also contains yeast
WaterWater
Nucleic acids and purinesNucleic acids and purines
We eats these as We eats these as
DNA and RNA DNA and RNA
Purine bases Purine bases IMP and possibly ATP
Ischemic catabolites Ischemic catabolites e.g. Hypoxanthine, urate
Minor NutrientsMinor Nutrients
VitaminsVitaminsMetalsMetals
Co-enzymesCo-enzymes
DigestionDigestionLarge molecules must be broken down to smaller moleculesLarge molecules must be broken down to smaller molecules
Then they can pass through the gut and enter the blood streamThen they can pass through the gut and enter the blood stream
Then they can enter cells where some molecules can be directlyThen they can enter cells where some molecules can be directlyused for macromolecule synthesis others will enter metabolic used for macromolecule synthesis others will enter metabolic processes.processes.
Some of the individual protein units (amino acids) cannot be made by the body and are said to be essential.
Not the case with purines and pyrimidines
Nucleic acids and purinesNucleic acids and purines
Purines and pyrimidines can be made by our bodies.
This de novo synthesis takes a lot of energy so nature tries to re-use the purine and pyrimidine ring structures for ATP, etc and DNA & RNA synthesis.
Nucleic acids and purinesNucleic acids and purinesAdenosine triphosphate (ATP) – our energy metabolite
ATP is essential for every breath we takeATP is essential for every breath we take
Partial Metabolic Pathway for ATP degradation ATP
AMP
IMP
Hypoxanthine
Xanthine
5’NTHPRTase
Xanthine Oxidase
Urate
Adenosine
Inosine
Xanthine Oxidase
DNA
HypoxanthineHypoxanthine
Increases in food on storageRelated to the taste of meat and meat
Plant PurinesPlant Purines
TheobromineTheobromineCaffeineCaffeine
Tea, coffee, Tea, coffee, Also soft drinksAlso soft drinks
ChocolateChocolate
Gut BacteriaGut BacteriaThe average human consists of ca. 1013 (ten trillion) cells.
We have about ten times that number of microorganisms in our gut.
There's an estimated 500 different bacterial species in the intestine.
The metabolic activity performed by these bacteria equal to that of a virtual organ making the gut bacteria a "forgotten" organ.
E. ColiE. Coli
Seoul – South Korea 2007