Orotic Acid
Orotic Acid is an organic acid which serves as an intermediate in nucleotide synthesis and is linked to arginine metabolism as a urea cycle marker for nitrogen balance.
It is formed from aspartic acid and carbamoyl phosphate. Carbamoyl phosphate plays an important role in the body because it brings nitrogen into the urea cycle for detoxification and disposal. Carbamoyl phosphate enters the urea cycle to react with ornithine to form citrulline. When ammonia levels significantly increase or the liver’s capacity for detoxifying ammonia into urea decreases, carbamoyl phosphate leaves the mitochondria and instead enters the pyrimidine pathway. This stimulates orotic acid biosynthesis and subsequent urinary excretion. Orotic acid can also be found in the diet. The richest dietary sources include cow’s milk and dairy products.
Most urinary orotic acid is synthesized in the body as an intermediate in the nucleotide synthesis. Although it is also linked with abnormalities in arginine metabolism as a urea cycle marker for nitrogen balance, orotic acid plays no direct role in the urea cycle, yet is increased in urea cycle disorders. Hyperammonemia is characteristic of all urea cycle disorders; orotic acid is only elevated in a few.
References:
- Brosnan ME, Brosnan JT. Orotic Acid Excretion and Arginine Metabolism. J Nutr. 2007;137(6):1656S-1661S.
- Nyc JF, Mitchell HK. Synthesis of Orotic Acid from Aspartic Acid. J Am Chem Soc. 1947;69(6):1382-1384.
- Visek WJ. Nitrogen-stimulated orotic acid synthesis and nucleotide imbalance. Cancer Res. 1992;52(7 Suppl):2082s-2084s.
- Löffler M, Carrey EA, Zameitat E. Orotate (orotic acid): An essential and versatile molecule. Nucleosid Nucleot Nucl Acids. 2016;35(10- 12):566-577.
- Visek WJ, Shoemaker JD. Orotic acid, arginine, and hepatotoxicity. J Am Coll Nutr. 1986;5(2):153-166.
- Salerno C, Crifo C. Diagnostic value of urinary orotic acid levels: applicable separation methods. J Chromatog B, AnalTechnol Biomed Life Sci. 2002;781(1-2):57-71.
- Choi Y-J, Yoon Y, Lee K-Y, et al. Orotic Acid Induces Hypertension Associated with Impaired Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthesis. Toxicol Sci. 2015;144(2):307-317.
- Haggard ME, Lockhart LH. Megaloblastic anemia and orotic aciduria. A hereditary disorder of pyrimidine metabolism responsive to uridine. Am J Dis Children (1960). 1967;113(6):733- 740
What does it mean if your Orotic Acid result is too high?
Elevations of orotic acid are seen in with hereditary deficiencies of urea-cycle enzymes, ammonia overload as seen in high protein diets, and abnormalities in arginine metabolism.
Any hepatotoxin or underlying liver condition can affect ammonia metabolism and increase orotic acid. There are studies that show elevations in orotic acid after drinking alcohol, which then declined with abstinence. Orotic acid excretion is increased by allopurinol and 6-azauridine seemingly related to action of these drugs on pyrimidine synthesis. There are animal studies which show a link between orotic aciduria and hypertension. Orotic acid can induce endothelial dysfunction by contributing to vascular and systemic insulin resistance which impacts nitric oxide production, leading to hypertension. Random case studies also show an association between megaloblastic anemia and orotic aciduria as a result of hereditary defects in pyrimidine synthesis.
All Your Lab Results.
One Simple Dashboard.
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results Easily
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results
Import lab results from multiple providers, track changes over time, customize your reference ranges, and get clear explanations for each result. Everything is stored securely, exportable in one organized file, and shareable with your doctor—or anyone you choose.
Cancel or upgrade anytime
What does it mean if your Orotic Acid result is too low?
- Low orotic acid in the presence of high ammonia indicates magnesium deficiency.
- Low orotic acid together with low urea levels suggests your cells are not burning protein for fuel at a very high rate. This is consistent with elevated branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine). It also means that you do not have gut bacteria that are producing a lot of ammonia. Check the bacterial dysbiosis markers to see if they’re consistent.
Laboratories
Bring All Your Lab Results Together — In One Place
We accept reports from any lab, so you can easily collect and organize all your health information in one secure spot.
Pricing Table
Gather Your Lab History — and Finally Make Sense of It
Finally, Your Lab Results Organized and Clear
Personal plans
$79/ year
Advanced Plan
Access your lab reports, explanations, and tracking tools.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 5 reports entered for you
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
$250/ once
Unlimited Account
Pay once, access everything—no monthly fees, no limits.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 10 reports entered for you
- No subscriptions. No extra fees.
$45/ month
Pro Monthly
Designed for professionals managing their clients' lab reports
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track lab results for multiple clients
- Customize reference ranges per client
- Export lab histories and reports
- Begin with first report entered by us
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
About membership
What's included in a Healthmatters membership
Import Lab Results from Any Source
See Your Health Timeline
Understand What Your Results Mean
Visualize Your Results
Data Entry Service for Your Reports
Securely Share With Anyone You Trust
Let Your Lab Results Tell the Full Story
Once your results are in one place, see the bigger picture — track trends over time, compare data side by side, export your full history, and share securely with anyone you trust.
Bring all your results together to compare, track progress, export your history, and share securely.
What Healthmatters Members Are Saying
Frequently asked questions
Healthmatters is a personal health dashboard that helps you organize and understand your lab results. It collects and displays your medical test data from any lab in one secure, easy-to-use platform.
- Individuals who want to track and understand their health over time.
- Health professionals, such as doctors, nutritionists, and wellness coaches, need to manage and interpret lab data for their clients.
With a Healthmatters account, you can:
- Upload lab reports from any lab
- View your data in interactive graphs, tables, and timelines
- Track trends and monitor changes over time
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export and share your full lab history
- Access your results anytime, from any device
Professionals can also analyze client data more efficiently and save time managing lab reports.
Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 10000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:
- The GI Effects® Comprehensive Stool Profile,
- GI-MAP,
- The NutrEval FMV®,
- The ION Profile,
- Amino Acids Profile,
- Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH),
- Organic Acids Test,
- Organix Comprehensive Profile,
- Toxic Metals,
- Complete Blood Count (CBC),
- Metabolic panel,
- Thyroid panel,
- Lipid Panel,
- Urinalysis,
- And many, many more.
You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.
If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.
We implement proven measures to keep your data safe.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.