Chemistry:Glucuronide

From HandWiki
Morphine-6-glucuronide, a major metabolite of morphine

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.

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. "Glucuronidation: driving factors and their impact on glucuronide disposition". Drug Metabolism Reviews 49 (2): 105–138. May 2017. doi:10.1080/03602532.2017.1293682. PMID 28266877.