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How is urea formed in the body?

When protein is ingested, it is metabolised by the body into amino acids. The amino acids are further broken down into ammonium ions which the body utilises in the biosynthesis of nitrogenous compounds required for body building.  


The body is unable to store excess amino acids not so utilised. In a process called deamination, the excess amino acids are then converted into ammonia in the liver by a series of chemical reactions. The ammonia produced exists in dynamic equilibrium with ammonium ions in aqueous solution. The body prevents the ammonia from accumulating in the body because it is very toxic to body tissues.


Through a series of reactions referred to as the ornithine cycle, the liver detoxifies the ammonia into water and a less toxic nitrogenous compound called urea. Being very soluble, urea easily dissolves in blood and gets transported to the kidneys where it is filtered off and passed out of the body in solution with water as urine.

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