Citric Acid (Labkit)
Citrate lyase | Colorimentric
| REF | Volume |
|---|---|
| N/A | N/A |
Product description:
Accumulation and secretion of extraordinarily high levels of citrate are principal functions of
the prostate gland of humans and other animals. The function of citric acid in mammalian semen
is not known with certainty. In man it appears in the human ejaculate in widely varying
concentrations: 0-2340 mg/dL. Citric acid in semen has been regarded not as an energy source for
spermatozoa, but as a component of semen having its primary function in the extracellular
environment; jellification and liquefaction of seminal plasma, binding of calcium ions and
interaction with hyaluronidase. Citricolysis in semen proceeds very slowly and does not serve to
maintain respiratory rates in spermatozoa. On the other hand, active citricolysis requires the
presence of sperm cells, and seminal plasma alone does not metabolize citric acid.
Concentration of citric acid can decrease, under the normal level, due to metabolic consumption
in urine with bacterial contamination. Likewise, its decrease has been referred as responsible
of the formation of kidney stone due to the chelating capacity of calcium. Level of citric acid
can be elevated due to a diet rich in carbohydrates, oestrogens therapy, hepatic failure,
metabolic acidosis, hyperparathyroidism and Vitamin D intoxication. It is one of the prostatic
markers in seminal plasma. Furthermore, citrate metabolism is markedly altered in benign
prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and in prostatic carcinoma (CA).
