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Cardiovascular Safety of Urate Lowering Therapies

  • Crystal Arthritis (L Stamp, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The effect of urate lowering treatment (ULT) on cardiovascular (CV) risk and mortality in gout has been a topic of interest. This review discusses the CV effect of ULT and comparative CV safety among ULT agents.

Recent Findings

The mechanism linking gout with CV risk is not fully understood but seems multifactorial involving hyperuricemia, xanthine oxidase (XO), oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation. Conflicting data exist regarding CV benefits of ULT in adults with and without hyperuricemia. Although meta-analyses on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest CV benefits with allopurinol, few high-quality RCTs have examined the CV effect of ULT among patients with hyperuricemia or gout. The recent CARES trial adds new information on comparative CV safety between two XO inhibitors (XOIs), febuxostat and allopurinol, in patients with gout.

Summary

It remains unclear whether ULT reduces CV risk in patients with gout or hyperuricemia. Comparative CV safety studies of XOIs suggest that additional mechanisms beyond urate-lowering effect or XO inhibition are likely involved in CV risk modification in patients with gout. Ongoing RCTs of ULT may be able to further determine the effect of ULT on CV risk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Rheumatology Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea

    Eun Ha Kang

  2. Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Seoyoung C. Kim

  3. Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Seoyoung C. Kim

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  1. Eun Ha Kang
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Seoyoung C. Kim has received research grants to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital from Roche, Pfizer, AbbVie, and Bristol-Myers Squibb for unrelated topics.

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Kang, E.H., Kim, S.C. Cardiovascular Safety of Urate Lowering Therapies. Curr Rheumatol Rep 21, 48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-019-0843-8

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