Phenylacetic acid
Microbial overgrowth
- Can include
- benzoate,
- Hippurate,
- Phenylacetate,
- Phenylpropionate,
- cresol,
- Hydroxybenzoate,
- Hydroxyphenylacetate,
- Hydroxyphenylpropionate
- 3,4-dihydroxyphenylpropionate,
- Indican,
- Tricarballylate,
- D-lactate,
- D-arabinitol
Clinical Applications of Urinary Organic Acids. Part 2. Dysbiosis Markers, Richard S. Lord, PhD, and J. Alexander Bralley, PhD, Alternative Medicine Review Volume 13, Number 4 2008
Product of unidentified, specific strains of bacteria,
- Marking a state of bacterial overgrowth when it is elevated in urine
- Intestinal bacterial action on dietary polyphenols causes the appearance of PAA in urine.
- Excretion of PAA is markedly increased after the gastrointestinal tracts of germ-free rats are inoculated with fecal microorganisms, indicating its microbial origin
- Significant PAA has been found in human fecal water, indicating absorption from the gut is only partial
Normal, healthy intestinal function
- Phenylacetate should not appear in more than background concentrations in urine
Clinical Applications of Urinary Organic Acids. Part 2. Dysbiosis Markers, Richard S. Lord, PhD, and J. Alexander Bralley, PhD, Alternative Medicine Review Volume 13, Number 4 2008
- Urinary phenylacetic acid (PAA)
Clinical Applications of Urinary Organic Acids. Part 2. Dysbiosis Markers, Richard S. Lord, PhD, and J. Alexander Bralley, PhD, Alternative Medicine Review Volume 13, Number 4 2008
Trace product of endogenous phenylalanine catabolism
- Can accumulate in the phenylalaninemic state found in phenylketonuria (PKU)
- PAA shows little toxic effect on brain glutamatergic activity
- Significant effects on hepatic flux of glutamate and alpha-ketoglutarate
- PAA may mediate some of the toxic consequences of PKU
