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Uridine
 
 
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Uridine is a molecule (known as a nucleoside
Nucleoside

Nucleosides are glycosylamines consisting of a nucleobase bound to a ribose or deoxyribose sugar. Examples of these include cytidine, uridine, adenosine, guanosine, thymidine and inosine....
) that is formed when uracil
Uracil

Uracil is a common and naturally occurring pyrimidine derivative. Originally discovered in 1900, it was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein that was found in bovine thymus and spleen, herring, sperm, and wheat germ....
 is attached to a ribose
Ribose

Ribose, primarily occurring as D-ribose, is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature. It is an aldopentose, that is a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms that, in its acyclic form, has an aldehyde functional group at one end....
 ring (also known as a ribofuranose
Ribofuranose

Ribofuranose is the biochemical name for the 5-carbon sugar commonly known as ribose when having the furan ring structure....
) via a ß-N1-glycosidic bond
Glycosidic bond

In chemistry, a glycosidic bond is a certain type of functional group that joins a carbohydrate molecule to another, which may be another carbohydrate....
.

If uracil
Uracil

Uracil is a common and naturally occurring pyrimidine derivative. Originally discovered in 1900, it was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein that was found in bovine thymus and spleen, herring, sperm, and wheat germ....
 is attached to a deoxyribose
Deoxyribose

Deoxyribose, also known as D-Deoxyribose and 2-deoxyribose, is an aldopentose — a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde functional group in its linear structure....
 ring, it is known as a deoxyuridine
Deoxyuridine

Deoxyuridine is a Compound and a nucleoside. It is similar in chemical structure to uridine, but without the 2'-hydroxyl group.Idoxuridine and Trifluridine are variants of deoxyuridine used as antiviral drugs....
.

Harvard researchers report that supplementation in rats with a combination of uridine and EPA/DHA omega-3 fatty acids has antidepressant activity equivalent to that of commonly prescribed antidepressant medications, such as Prozac and other SSRIs.






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Uridine is a molecule (known as a nucleoside
Nucleoside

Nucleosides are glycosylamines consisting of a nucleobase bound to a ribose or deoxyribose sugar. Examples of these include cytidine, uridine, adenosine, guanosine, thymidine and inosine....
) that is formed when uracil
Uracil

Uracil is a common and naturally occurring pyrimidine derivative. Originally discovered in 1900, it was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein that was found in bovine thymus and spleen, herring, sperm, and wheat germ....
 is attached to a ribose
Ribose

Ribose, primarily occurring as D-ribose, is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature. It is an aldopentose, that is a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms that, in its acyclic form, has an aldehyde functional group at one end....
 ring (also known as a ribofuranose
Ribofuranose

Ribofuranose is the biochemical name for the 5-carbon sugar commonly known as ribose when having the furan ring structure....
) via a ß-N1-glycosidic bond
Glycosidic bond

In chemistry, a glycosidic bond is a certain type of functional group that joins a carbohydrate molecule to another, which may be another carbohydrate....
.

If uracil
Uracil

Uracil is a common and naturally occurring pyrimidine derivative. Originally discovered in 1900, it was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein that was found in bovine thymus and spleen, herring, sperm, and wheat germ....
 is attached to a deoxyribose
Deoxyribose

Deoxyribose, also known as D-Deoxyribose and 2-deoxyribose, is an aldopentose — a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde functional group in its linear structure....
 ring, it is known as a deoxyuridine
Deoxyuridine

Deoxyuridine is a Compound and a nucleoside. It is similar in chemical structure to uridine, but without the 2'-hydroxyl group.Idoxuridine and Trifluridine are variants of deoxyuridine used as antiviral drugs....
.

Harvard researchers report that supplementation in rats with a combination of uridine and EPA/DHA omega-3 fatty acids has antidepressant activity equivalent to that of commonly prescribed antidepressant medications, such as Prozac and other SSRIs.

Dietary sources of uridine


Uridine is found in a variety of foods. Sugarcane extract is rich in nucleosides, especially uridine. Tomatoes also (about 500-1000 mg. of uridine per kilogram of dry matter).

Brewer's yeast is also a good source of uridine, as yeast is high in RNA (ribonucleic acid), which after digestion is broken down into ribosyl pyrimidines (uridine and cytidine), which are absorbed intact . About 3 percent of yeast (dry weight) results in digestion uridine products. This assumes the usual 9% RNA content found in Brewer's yeast. Alternatively, drinking beer also results in increased plasma uridine . The ingestion of one liter of beer results in increased plasma uridine at a level that is comparable to those reached after ingestion of CDP-choline (citicoline) (as in , the increase is measured as a percent change relative to baseline plasma uridine). Alternative uridine/cytidine sources include other high RNA foods such as organ meats (liver, pancreas, etc) or broccoli . High RNA foods may result in high blood purine levels, which may increase uric acid production in humans, which may aggravate conditions such as gout. Because of this, it has been suggested that the RNA content of yeast products should be chemically reduced if these products are to be consumed in high amounts as a source of protein (50 grams or more per day). However, such processing is expensive, and as of today (2008), it seems that commonly available Brewer's yeast products are not RNA-reduced. Consumption of moderate amounts of yeast (5 grams per day) should provide enough uridine for improved health, while minimizing possible side effects such as increased uric acid production.