Eryn DixonPostdoctoral FellowWashington University School of Medicine in St. Louis Uric acid is the final metabolic byproduct of purine nucleotide breakdown (Figure 1a) and its accumulation causes hyperuricemia, which is highly prevalent and heritable. The major consequence of…
A 70 year old Ghanaian man was recently admitted under our care. He had been diagnosed with aggressive myelodysplasia 2 months previously after presenting with fatigue and abnormal blood results (WBC 50.3, platelets 130 and LDH 928 at…
In our search for therapies to reduce CKD progression, hyperuricemia has historically not been a major target despite being a potential risk factor for progression. Two recent studies however, raise the possibility that treating hyperuricemia could slow progression….
In the kidney stone bracket I think the most disappointed team must be XO inhibitors. Allopurinol has been around for a long time and is one of the mainstays of treatment for gout. More recently, febuxostat hit the…
At some point during evolution humans lost the enzyme uricase and during the long and tedious process of getting to the modern age and this was initially a good thing. Uric acid accumulation as a result of uricase…
I recently saw my first patient formally diagnosed with familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy (FJHN), and since I had little prior knowledge about this condition, I decided to read up. Apparently, FJHN is more common than we think, and…
Hypouricemia is defined as a serum uric acid level less than 2mg/dL. Although it is generally considered benign, hypouricemia has been associated with several important conditions relevant to nephrologists, including acute kidney injury, uric acid nephrolithiasis, and SIADH…
I remember learning about Lesch-Nyhan and thinking it was fascinating early on during a college course on neurology & behavior: affected children with this X-linked disorder develop the bizarre but highly characteristic behavior of self-mutilation, intentional biting of…
Keeping with our theme of uric acid from yesterday: Do elevated uric acid levels play a causative role in essential hypertension? I just finished attending the Renal Grand Rounds at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital featuring Dr. Rick Johnson, a…
Interesting case from one of my calls last week (although I understandably would have been more enthusiastic about the case at the time had I been called about it 10 am rather than at 10 pm, prompting an…
