FOOD CHEMISTRY I PURINES AND NITROGENOUS BASES

REPORTER 1: Francia, B.N. -A ribose and nitrogenous base are covalently joined by a glycosidic bond to form a nucleoside molecule: -Nucleosides are named by adding the suffix "-idine" to the pyrimidine or "-osine" to the purine name. -Purine nucleosides include Adenosine and Guanosine

NITROGEN BASES The molecules of nitrogen bases comprise C, H, O and N. In these molecules 2 nitrogen atoms are directly linked to a carbon atom on its two sides. There are two types of nitrogen bases: Purines and Pyrimidines. Purines - The purine structure consists of two rings, having 5 carbon and 4 nitrogen atoms.Adenine and Guanine are purine bases.

-The above nucleosides are all ribonucleosides as is found in RNA. Deoxyribonucleosides would be found in DNA, and would include deoxyThymidine instead of Uridine -The common purines are Guanine (G) and Adenine (A). They are used in both DNA and RNA http://library.med.utah.edu/NetBiochem/pup yr/pp.htm http://www.mikeblaber.org/oldwine/BCH40 53/Lecture18/Lecture18.htm RNA (mono-Pi) AMP GMP DNA (mono-Pi) dAMP dGMP

Base Adenine Guanine

Nucleoside (deoxy-)Adenosine (deoxy-)Guanosine

Nucleotide (deoxy-)Adenylic acid (deoxy-)Guanylic acid

Code A G

REPORTER 2: Jarabejo, F.A. Properties of purines Adenine and guanine are found in both DNA and RNA The pyrimidine ring systems is planar, whereas the purine rings have some pucker The purine bases have a 9-membered double-ring system with four nitrogens and five carbons. The plain purine molecules have low solubility, but A base have higher solubility due to additional polar groups Purines can undergo a keto-enol tautomeric shift. The keto tautomer is called a lactam ring, wheres the enol tautomer is a lactim ring. The lactam (keto) tautomer is the predominant form at neutral pH.

Purines are metabolized into uric acid When cells die and get recycled, the purines in their genetic material also get broken down. Uric acid is the chemical formed when purines have been broken down completely. It's normal and healthy for uric acid to be formed in the body from breakdown of purines. In our blood, for example, uric acid serves as an antioxidant and helps prevent damage to our blood vessel linings, so a continual supply of uric acid is important for protecting our blood vessels. Uric acid levels in the blood and other parts of the body can become too high, however, under a variety of circumstances. Since our kidneys are responsible for helping keep blood levels of uric acid balanced, kidney problems can lead to excessive accumulation of uric acid in various parts of the body. Excessive breakdown of cells can also cause uric acid build-up. When uric acid accumulates, uric acid crystals (called monosodium urate crystals) can become deposited in our tendons, joints, kidneys, and other organs. This accumulation of uric acid crystals is called gouty arthritis, or simply "gout."

In the Lactam form, the ring nitrogens can serve as H-bond donors, and the keto oxygens serve as H-bond acceptors, when interacting with other molecules All of the pyrimidine and purine bases absorb U.V. light (a consequence of their aromatic ring structure). Therefore, the concentration of DNA or RNA in a sample can be determined by measuring the UV absorbance. The end product of purine catabolism in man is uric acid. Other mammals have the enzyme urate oxidase and excrete the more soluble allantoin as the end product. Man does not have this enzyme so urate is the end product for us. Uric acid is formed primarily in the liver and excreted by the kidney into the urine.

REPORTER 3: Lita, J What are purines and in which foods are they found? Introduction Purines are natural substances found in all of the body's cells, and in virtually all foods. The reason for their widespread occurrence is simple: purines provide part of the chemical structure of our genes and the genes of plants and animals. A relatively small number of foods, however, contain concentrated amounts of purines. For the most part, these high-purine foods are also high-protein foods, and they include organ meats like kidney, fish like mackerel, herring, sardines and mussels, and also yeast. Foods that contain purines Because uric acid is formed from the breakdown of purines, low-purine diets are often used to help treat conditions like gout in which excessive uric acid is deposited in the tissues of the body. The average daily diet for an adult in the U.S. contains approximately 600-1,000 milligrams of purines. Recent research by Choi and others has shown that the impact of plant purines on gout risk is very different from the impact of animal purines, and that within the animal food family, purines from meat and fish act very differently than purines from dairy. Choi's work has demonstrated that purines from meat and fish clearly increase our risk of gout, while purines from vegetables fail to change our risk. Dairy foods (which can contain purines) actually appear to lower our risk of gout. In summary, this epidemiological research (on tens of

thousands of men and women) makes it clear that all purine-containing foods are not the same, and that plant purines are far safer than meat and fish purines in terms of gout risk. In a case of severe or advanced gout, dietitians will often ask individuals to decrease their total daily purine intake to 100-150 milligrams. A 3.5 ounce serving of some foods, all by itself, can contain up to 1,000 milligrams of purines. These foods include anchovies, herring, kidney, liver, mackerel, meat extracts, mincemeat, mussels, sardines, and yeast. You'll notice that only of these foods - liver - is included amongst the World's Healthiest Foods. The table below lists other foods that contain higher-than-usual amounts of purines, though not nearly as much as the foods described above. Foods with very high purine levels(up to 1,000 mg per 3.5 ounce serving):

Anchovies, Brains, Gravies, Kidneys,Liver, Sardines, Sweetbreads Asparagus, Bacon, Beef, Bluefish, Bouillon, Calf tongue, Carp, Cauliflower, Chicken, Chicken soup, Codfish, Crab, Duck, Goose, Halibut, Ham, Kidney beans, Lamb, Lentils, Lima beans, Lobster, Mushrooms, Mutton, Navy beans, Oatmeal, Oysters, Peas, Perch, Pork, Rabbit, Salmon, Sheep, Shellfish,

Foods with high and moderately high purine levels(5-100 mg per 3.5 ounch serving):

Snapper, Spinach, Tripe, Trout, Tuna, Turkey, Veal, Venison Purines and health In general, we want purines in our diet. As mentioned previously, our bodies can break purines down into uric acid, a substance that can help protect our blood vessels from damage and that is a common recycled product when our cells die. There are rare conditions, however, in which metabolism of purines in the body gets disrupted. While research in this area is not conclusive, many health care practitioners suggest screening for purine metabolism problems whenever confronted with other problems, particularly in children and infants, which cannot readily be explained. These problems include anemia, failure to thrive, autism, cerebral palsy, deafness, epilepsy, susceptibility to recurrent infection, and the inability to walk or talk. You'll notice from Table 1 that most of the purine-containing foods included within the World's Healthiest Foods - asparagus, cauliflower, chicken, kidney beans, lima beans, mushrooms, navy beans, oatmeal, peas salmon, spinach, and tuna - contain about 5-50 milligrams of purines in a 3.5 ounce serving. If you are not at risk for gout or other health problems related to purine metabolism, you would be unlikely to consume greater than the U.S. average for purine intake even if you ate more than ten 3.5 ounce servings of the above foods. If you have been placed on a low purine diet that calls for no more than 150 milligrams of dietary purines, you should still be able to consume a 3.5 ounce serving of these foods per day without exceeding the 150 milligram limit for your overall diet. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tna me=george&dbid=51