Skip Navigation


Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on June 27, 2003
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
42/12/1550    most recent
keg402v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Facchini, F. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Facchini, F. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Rheumatology 2003; 42: 1550-1555
© 2003 British Society for Rheumatology

Near-iron deficiency-induced remission of gouty arthritis

Francesco S. Facchini

Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, San Francisco General Hospital and University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143 and Department of Medicine, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Permanente Medical Group Inc., Oakland, CA 94117, USA.

Correspondence to: F. S. Facchini, Box 1341 UCSF, San Francisco, CA 94143-1341, USA. E-mail: fste2000{at}yahoo.com

Objectives. Previous evidence supports a role for iron in the pathogenesis of gout. For example, iron, when added to media containing urate crystals, stimulated oxidative stress with subsequent complement and neutrophil activation. Conversely, iron removal inhibited these responses as well as urate-crystal-induced foot pad inflammation in rats in-vivo. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether or not iron removal may improve the outcome of gouty arthritis in humans as well.

Methods. Quantitative phlebotomy was used to remove iron in 12 hyperuricaemic patients with gouty arthritis and maintain their body iron at near-iron deficiency (NID) level (i.e. the lowest body iron store compatible with normal erythropoiesis and therefore absence of anaemia).

Results. During maintenance of NID for 28 months, gouty attacks markedly diminished in every patient, from a cumulative amount of 48 and 53 attacks per year before (year –2, –1), to 32, 11 and 7 during induction (year 0) and maintenance (year +1, +2) of NID, respectively. During NID, attacks were also more often of milder severity.

Conclusions. During a 28-month follow-up, maintenance of NID was found to be safe and beneficial in all patients, with effects ranging from a complete remission to a marked reduction of incidence and severity of gouty attacks.

KEY WORDS: Gout, Arthritis, Hyperuricaemia, Oxidative stress, Near-iron deficiency.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Rheumatology (Oxford)Home page
W. J. Taylor, H. R. Schumacher Jr, J. A. Singh, R. Grainger, and N. Dalbeth
Assessment of outcome in clinical trials of gout a review of current measures
Rheumatology, December 1, 2007; 46(12): 1751 - 1756.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Rheumatology (Oxford)Home page
H. McGrath Jr and P. G. Rigby
Hepcidin: inflammation's iron curtain
Rheumatology, November 1, 2004; 43(11): 1323 - 1325.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.