Pentose phosphate pathway

The pentose phosphate pathway is a process of glucose turnover that produces NADPH as reducing equivalents and pentoses as essential parts of nucleotides. This metabolic pathway is parallel to glycolysis. It generates NADPH and pentoses (5-carbon sugars) as well as ribose 5-phosphate, the last one a precursor for the synthesis of nucleotides. While it does involve oxidation of glucose, its primary role is anabolic rather than catabolic. The pathway is especially important in erythrocytes. There are two distinct phases in the pathway. The first is the oxidative phase, in which NADPH is generated, and the second is the non-oxidative synthesis of 5-carbon sugars.

五碳磷酸途径是一种葡萄糖代谢过程，其主要功能为生成还原当量NADPH以及作为核苷酸重要组成部分的五碳糖。该代谢途径与糖酵解平行。它不仅产生NADPH和五碳糖（5-碳糖类）以及核糖-5-磷酸（作为核苷酸合成的先体），而且涉及葡萄糖的氧化反应。尽管此途径涉及葡萄糖的氧化作用，但其主要功能为合成代谢而非分解代谢。在红细胞中，该途径尤为重要。该途径分为两个不同的阶段：第一阶段为氧化阶段，此阶段生成NADPH；第二阶段为非氧化性五碳糖的合成。