Abstract
We analyzed urinary orotic acid concentrations in 165 healthy adults and 843 adult patients with various diseases, in order to establish the reference value for persons ages 20 years or older and evaluate the clinical significance. These were analyzed directly by high-performance liquid chromatography with column switching. When males and females were compared, orotic acid concentrations were higher in females (p<0.05). Orotic acid increased significantly in patients with hypertension, cerebral infarction and malignancy (p<0.01). The mechanism causing orotic aciduria in these patients is not clear at present, but should become clearer as further data are accumulated. The reference values for the patients in this study may be useful for diagnosing certain urea cycle disorders, such as late-onset type ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency accompanied by other disease.
