Scientists Reveal the Enzyme Responsible for the Yellow Color of Urine: A Breakthrough in Understanding the Human Body

The Mystery of Yellow Urine Solved

The reason why urine comes out of the human body yellow has remained a puzzling mystery to scientists for more than 150 years. But a new study was finally able to reveal the reason responsible for this distinctive color.

Identifying the Cause

A team of scientists from the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Health say they have identified an enzyme called bilirubin reductase as the reason behind the yellow color of urine. Urine consists of a mixture of water, electrolytes and wastes that are filtered by the kidneys.

A Long-Standing Puzzle

Scientists previously identified urobilin as the cause of yellow pigmentation in urine in 1868, but the mechanism of giving urine the yellow color remained puzzling scientists until recently. “It is remarkable that an everyday biological phenomenon has remained unexplained for so long, and our team is excited to be able to explain it,” Brantley Hall, an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland, told Maryland Today.

The Science Behind It

This process occurs when red blood cells reach the end of their life cycle at six months and the cells decompose to produce the orange pigment bilirubin. Bilirubin is normally secreted into the gastrointestinal tract, where it is excreted but can also be partially reabsorbed.

Upon reaching the intestine, the study found that microorganisms in the intestine can convert bilirubin into various other molecules. Hall explained, “Gut microbes encode the enzyme bilirubin reductase, which converts bilirubin into a colorless byproduct called urobilinogen. Urobilinogen is then automatically hydrolyzed into a molecule called urobilin, which is responsible for the yellow color we all know.”

Implications and Future Research

Scientists say that the discovery of what makes urine yellow is described as a “wonderful” achievement that led to solving an important part of the “puzzle” in order to understand more about the human body. It may also pave the way for further research into the role of the gut microbiome in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and jaundice, a condition that causes a patient to yellow the skin and the whites of the eyes.

Source: New York Post

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