hyperammonemia
Sign in to saveHyperammonemia, or high ammonia levels, is a metabolic disturbance characterised by an excess of ammonia in the blood. Severe hyperammonemia is a dangerous condition that may lead to brain injury and death. It may be primary or secondary.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Hyperammonemia
- Medical condition (new).synonyms
- Hyperammonaemia; High ammonia levels
- Medical condition (new).image
- Ammonia lone electron pair.svg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Ammonia
- Medical condition (new).causes
- Due to accumulation of argininosuccinate, citrulline, and arginine in the liver when the urea cycle is deficient.
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
5,830 papers- Hyperammonemia in Inherited Metabolic Diseases.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2022
- Hyperammonemia syndrome in immunosuppressed individuals.Current opinion in infectious diseases · 2022
- Asparaginase-associated hyperammonemia.Haematologica · 2025
- Inborn Errors of Metabolism with Hyperammonemia: Urea Cycle Defects and Related Disorders.Pediatric clinics of North America · 2018
- Hyperammonemia in urea cycle disorders: A toxic metabolite for the brain.Pediatrics international : official journal of the Japan Pediatric Society · 2025
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
Show 3 more facts
- exact match
- purl.obolibrary.org/obo/HP_0001987
- Commons category
- Hyperammonemia
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C98950
via Wikidata · CC0
~8 min read
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Levels
- Signs and symptoms
- Complication
- Diagnosis
- Types
- Primary vs. secondary
- Acquired vs. congenital
- Specific types
- Treatment
- See also
- References
- External links
Hyperammonemia, or high ammonia levels, is a metabolic disturbance characterised by an excess of ammonia in the blood. Severe hyperammonemia is a dangerous condition that may lead to brain injury and death. It may be primary or secondary.
Ammonia is a substance that contains nitrogen. It is a product of the catabolism of protein. It is converted to the less toxic substance urea prior to excretion in urine by the kidneys. The metabolic pathways that synthesize urea involve reactions that start in the mitochondria and then move into the cytosol. The process is known as the urea cycle, which comprises several enzymes acting in sequence. It is greatly exacerbated by common zinc deficiency, which raises ammonia levels further.