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The Clinical Significance of Hypouricemia
Abstract
Hypouricemia (serum urate, < 2 mg/100 ml) was noted in 0.97% of 6629 consecutive serum urate measurements done at two large hospitals. In two thirds of the hypouricemic patients drugs, including aspirin, allopurinol, X-ray contrast agents, and glyceryl guaiacholate, seemed to be responsible for the decreased serum urate concentration; disseminated carcinomas were noted in nine more hypouricemic patients. In many of these subjects an alteration in the renal tubular handling of uric acid seemed to cause the development of hypouricemia. Poor dietary intake of protein and purines and hypo-osmolality were common findings that may have contributed to the development of hypouricemia in some patients. Although hypouricemia has been reported as a common manifestation of several relatively rare diseases, these illnesses are unusual causes of the hypouricemia found in a general hospital population.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Division of Rheumatic and Genetic Diseases, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
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Supported in part by training grant AM05620 from the U.S. Public Health Service, Washington, D.C., and by grant RR-30 from the General Clinical Research Centers Program of the Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to William N. Kelley, M.D., P.O. Box 3211, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. 27710.
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- Received July 17, 1972.
- Accepted October 27, 1972.
