Significance of hypouricaemia in the development of neurodegenerative diseases

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Sciendo. All rights reserved.Hypouricaemia has received relatively little attention in the literature. As a result, there is lessawareness or understanding of the potential risks of low uric acid levels. Emerging research indi-cates that normal uric acid levels may have an antioxidative and neuroprotective effect. Thisstudy aims to investigate possible associations between hypouricaemia and neurodegenerativedisease. Data was collected from seventy-seven outpatients and inpatients who underwent rou-tine uric acid testing, who were then stratified into patients with and without neurodegenerativedisease. Patients with renal pathologies and patients using uric acid altering medications were ex-cluded from the study. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of Alzheimer’s diseasebetween hypouricemic and normouricemic patients (p= 0.001), however there was no differencein the prevalence of vascular dementia (p= 0.45). This study provides evidence that hypouricae-mia has potential effects on health, specifically on the rate of neurodegenerative diseases suchas Alzheimer’s disease and gives weight to the potential neuroprotective role of uric acid.publishersversionPeer reviewe

The Link between Hypouricemia and Neurodegenerative Disorders

The potential danger to patients’ health due to hypouricemia has only recently become a research topic of interest. While it has been established that normal uric acid levels have antioxidative and neuroprotective properties, the loss of these functions with uric acid levels below the normal range have been studied only recently and findings suggest potential detrimental effects on the brain and cognitive abilities. The purpose of this study is to look at potential connections between hypouricemia and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Seventy-seven inpatients and outpatients with routine uric acid testing were included and further stratified into patients with neurodegenerative disease and patients without neurodegenerative disease. The results showed that rates of Alzheimer’s disease differ between patients with hypouricemia and normal uric acid levels, however this association was not found for patients with vascular dementia. This provides evidence for potential effects of hypouricemia and raises the question for further research define a safe range of serum uric acid