Homogentisic Acid

Homogentisic acid

Homogentisic acid is an intermediate product of the metabolism of phenylalanine and tyrosine, which is 2,5-dioxyphenylacetic acid. Homogentisic acid is found in the blood serum and urine of patients with alkaptonuria, a hereditary metabolic disease in which the metabolism of the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine is impaired.

In alkaptonuria, the enzyme homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase, which is involved in the conversion of homogentisic acid to maleylacetoacetic acid, does not work effectively enough. As a result, homogentisic acid accumulates in the body and is excreted in the urine, giving it a dark color. The accumulation of homogentisic acid leads to the development of various symptoms of alkaptonuria, including arthropathy and joint ochronosis. Thus, elevated levels of homogentisic acid in biological fluids are a diagnostic marker for this disease.

Homogentisanoic acid, or homogentylic acid, is an intermediate product of biochemical reactions in the metabolism of certain amino acids - tyrosine and phenylaline. Homogentylic acid is formed as a result of the oxidation of phenylalkaloin and is a secondary metabolite of endogenous synthesis. A substance found in the animal's body that is foreign to bacteria. An animal may lack its own food, such as a human. But he easily consumes food of animal origin on this basis and introduces bacterial and fungal cultures.