Hyperuricemia

Asymptomatic hyperuricemia
Uric acid
Classification and external resources
Specialty	endocrinology
ICD-10	E79.0
ICD-9-CM	790.6
DiseasesDB	5375
eMedicine	med/1112
MeSH	D033461
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Hyperuricemia is an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood. In the pH conditions of body fluid, uric acid exists largely as urate, the ion form. The amount of urate in the body depends on the balance between the amount of purines eaten in food, the amount of urate synthesised within the body (e.g., through cell turnover), and the amount of urate that is excreted in urine or through the gastrointestinal tract. In humans, the upper end of the normal range is 360 µmol/L (6 mg/dL) for women and 400 µmol/L (6.8 mg/dL) for men.

Many factors contribute to hyperuricemia, including genetics, insulin resistance, hypertension, hypothyroidism, renal insufficiency, obesity, diet, use of diuretics, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Of these, alcohol consumption is the most important.

Causes of hyperuricemia can be classified into three functional types: increased production of uric acid, decreased excretion of uric acid, and mixed type. Causes of increased production include high levels of purine in the diet and increased purine metabolism. Causes of decreased excretion include kidney disease, certain drugs, and competition for excretion between uric acid and other molecules. Mixed causes include high levels of alcohol and/or fructose in the diet, and starvation.

A purine-rich diet is a common but minor cause of hyperuricemia. Diet alone generally is not sufficient to cause hyperuricemia. Purine content of foods varies (see Gout). Foods high in the purines adenine and hypoxanthine may be more potent in exacerbating hyperuricemia.

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