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Glite Dictionary
glucuronidase

glucuronidase

1 9.9
A protein in the body that helps break down drugs and other chemicals
  • noun
  • /ɡluːˈkjuːrənaɪdeɪs/
  • Specialized
: glucuronidasa
  • The enzyme glucuronidase helps break down toxins by hydrolyzing glucuronides in the liver.
  • beta-glucuronidase

And that's what happens with people who have high beta glucuronidase.

Examples

  • After incubation for 24 hours at 37°C, positive cultures produced β-glucuronidase, which caused the medium to fluoresce under a black light.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Researchers measured the activity of glucuronidase to understand its role in drug metabolism.

  • An increase in glucuronidase levels can indicate liver dysfunction in patients.

Surface Forms

glucuronidase singular
glucuronidases plural

Morphology

glucuronidase = glucuronide (semi-transparent) = glucuron + ide + ase

Formally built from 'glucuronide' + the enzyme suffix '-ase', but both elements are specialized biochemical terms likely unfamiliar to general learners.

Etymology

Glucuronidase comes from gluc- meaning 'sugar', as in glucose, and the ending -ase that names an enzyme. It works on substances called glucuronides that have a sugar part attached, so glucuronidase is the enzyme that 'breaks' or removes that sugar part and therefore breaks down glucuronides in the body.