Journal
JOURNAL OF GENETICS AND GENOMICS
Volume 42, Issue 5, Pages 207-219Publisher
SCIENCE PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2015.04.001
Keywords
Orotic acid; Pyrimidines; Orotic aciduria; Miller syndrome; Gene defects
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It is timely to consider the many facets of the small molecule orotic acid (OA), which is well-known as an essential intermediate of pyrimidine de novo synthesis. In addition, it can be taken up by erythrocytes and hepatocytes for conversion into uridine and for use in the pyrimidine recycling pathway. We discuss the link between dietary orotate and fatty liver in rats, and the potential for the alleviation of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia. We address the development of orotate derivatives for application as anti-pyrimidine drugs, and of complexes with metal ions and organic cations to assist therapies of metabolic syndromes. Recent genetic data link human Miller syndrome to defects in the dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) gene, hence to depleted orotate production. Another defect in pyrimidine biosynthesis, the orotic aciduria arising in humans and cattle with a deficiency of UMP synthase (UMPS), has different symptoms. More recent work leads us to conclude that OA may have a role in regulating gene transcription.
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