Pharmacologists have linked drugs to glucuronic acid to allow for more effective delivery of a broad range of potential therapeutics.
The conjugation of xenobiotic molecules with hydrophilic molecular species such as glucuronic acid is known as phase II metabolism.
Glucuronidation occurs mainly in the liver, although the enzyme responsible for its catalysis, UDP-glucuronyltransferase, has been found in all major body organs (e.g., intestine, kidneys, brain, adrenal gland, spleen, and thymus).
Generally, an increased rate of glucuronidation results in a loss of potency for the target drugs or compounds.
Many drugs which are substrates for glucuronidation as part of their metabolism are significantly affected by inhibitors or inducers of their specific glucuronisyltransferase types: