Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A yellowish-white, crystalline purine base, C5H4N4O2, that is a precursor of uric acid and is found in blood, urine, muscle tissue, and certain plants.
- n. Any of several derivatives of this compound.
Wiktionary
- n. chemistry Any of a group of alkaloids, that include caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine as well as the parent compound, a precursor of uric acid found in many organs of the body.
GNU Webster's 1913
- (Physiol. Chem.) A type of purine obtainable as a white microcrystalline powder, C5H4O2N4, present in muscle tissue, in the liver, spleen, pancreas, and other organs, and also in urine (in small quantities) and some urinary calculi, and in the juices of certain plants; -- so called because it leaves a yellow residue when evaporated to dryness with nitric acid. It is also present in guano. Xanthine is closely related to uric acid.
WordNet 3.0
- n. crystalline oxidation product of the metabolism of nucleoproteins; precursor of uric acid; found in many organs and in urine
Examples
“Milk fat contains an enzyme called xanthine oxidase (XO), some of which survives the pasteurization process and, thanks to homogenization, is now able to pass through the gut wall into the bloodstream intact where it creates havoc by attacking plasmalogen within artery walls.”
“Theobromine, like caffeine, and also like the asthma drug theophylline, belong to the chemical group known as xanthine alkaloids.”
“One is completely insoluble in water, which we have termed xanthine, a name which Runge has given to a yellow matter from madder.”
The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants
“Even since 1776 when Scheele found uric acid in urinary calculus, several substances closely related to it such as xanthine, adenine and guanine, etc. have been detected in animal secretions.”
“Carbon isotope ratios for uracil and xanthine of δ13C = + 44.5‰ and + 37.7‰, respectively, indicate a non-terrestrial origin for these compounds.”
“Unless you are referring to a yellow nitrogenous compound, xanthine -”
“The inhibition was reversed by hypoxanthine, adenine, guanine, and xanthine (28).”
“The fate of the intermediate oxypurines, hypoxanthine and xanthine, turned out to be a fascinating one.”
“Xanthine oxidase is responsible not only for the oxidation of 6-MP, but also for the formation of uric acid from hypoxanthine and xanthine (Fig. 4).”
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