Studies on the mechanism of ethambutol-induced hyperuricemia

✍ Scribed by Arnold E. Postlethwaite; Dr. William N. Kelley

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 432 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780150411

✦ Synopsis

The effect of ethambutol on uric acid metabolism was assessed in 14 patients, 8 with gout and 6 with tuberculosis. This antituberculous agent produces hyperuricemia by decreasing the renal clearance of uric acid. Although the exact mechanism responsible for this effect of ethambutol remains undefined, several characteristics were observed which distinguish the effect of this drug from that of other agents which produce hyperuricemia by altering the renal handling of uric acid.

Prolonged administration of ethambutol is associated with the development of hyperuricemia in about one-half of the patients receiving this antituberculous agent (1). T h e development of hyperuricemia appears to be related to a reduction in the fractional excretion of uric acid (CuratJCcreatin,nP) (1). In the present study, we have examined the effect of ethambutol on the renal handling of uric acid and compared the effect of this agent with other agents, such as salicylates, diuretics, ethanol and pyrazinamide, which also produce hyperuricemia by a renal mechanism.

From the Division of Rheumatic and Genetic Diseases,