Several genera of New World monkeys have high uric acid concentrations in serum and urine comparable to man and the higher apes. Like man these animals lack urate oxidase activity in liver tissue. The purine metabolism of these non‐human primates appears to be similar to that of man as exemplified by fasting‐induced hyperuricemia. These South American monkeys should provide an easily accessible experimental system for the study of purine metabolism in a species closely related to man. Old World monkeys and prosimians have low uric acid concentrations in serum and urine. The urate oxidase activity of prosimian liver is remarkably stable whereas that of Old World monkeys was found to be quite unstable, a probable reflection of the gradual degeneration of this enzyme in primate phylogenesis.
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Christen et al. (1970) studied this question.
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