Pancreas, Adenine

And what s the derivation of those names Adenine comes from the Greek word for gland, because it was first isolated from the pancreas. Thymine was found in the thymus gland, cytosine was isolated from cells ( cyto refers to cells), and guanine from bird guano — or bird poop. 

The enzymes from the pancreas, called nucleases, split the nucleic acids into nucleotides. Then the nucleotides are split into nucleosides and phosphoric acid by other enzymes in the intestine. Finally, the nucleosides are split into their (1) constituent sugars (deoxyribose or ribose), (2) purine bases (adenine and guanine), and (3) pyrimidine bases (cytosine, thymine, and uracil). These bases are then absorbed into the blood via active transport. The sugars are absorbed slowly, and, as far as is known, there is no specific transport mechanism. 

Xanthine (xanthic oxide) was discovered by Marcet (1819 see Vol. Ill, p. 707), hypoxanthine in spleen by T. Scherer. Strecker discovered what he called sarkin in flesh and showed that it is the same as hypoxanthine, C5H4N4O. Thudichum (1879) and G. Salomon independently discovered in normal human urine what the latter called paraxanthine. Adenine (aS v, gland) was prepared from pancreas nucleotides by A. Kossel. ... 

Nucleoproteins are almost insoluble in water, but dissolve in alkalies, and by this means can be extracted from tissues rich in nuclei, such as thymus and pancreas. They were obtained originally from pus, which is an emulsion of white corpuscles. Another rich source is the sperm of fishes. On acid or enzyme hydrolysis, nucleoproteins are resolved into protein and nucleic acid, which further hydrolysis converts into four units, or nucleotides. Each nucleotide is the phosphoric ester of a nucleoside, or pentose derivative of an amino purine adenine or guanine), or an amino pyrimidine cytosine or methyl cytosine). 

Unsaturated fatty acids have been shown to suppress XDH levels and its rate of synthesis in the chick pancreas (13,14). No effect was observed in chick liver. However, this observation was in error because of the age of the chicks used. When newly hatched chicks are maintained on diets supplemented with fatty acids for more than one week or when older chicks are used, liver XDH levels are reduced about 50% (11). These substances reduce the induction effect of all other agents tested, including allopurinol, adenine, and high protein diets (see Figures 3 and 4). In each case the fatty acid reduced activity by about 50%. 

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