Hyperuricemia has been considered as a possible risk factor for the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). In addition, there has been debate regarding the usefulness of urate lowering therapy as a way to reduce the rate of renal disease progression. The following article shows that higher uric acid at baseline is an independent risk factors for renal disease progression and the reduction of serum uric acid to levels lower than 6 mg/dL reduces the rate of renal disease progression.
Article name: Effect of Urate-lowering Therapies on Renal Disease Progression in Patients with Hyperuricemia
This article was published in the Journal of Rheumatology in 2014. It is a restrospective cohort of patients with hyperuricemia who were followed for 3 years. The cohort was divided in 3 groups: No treatment for hyperuricemia, treatment for less than 80% of the time and treatment for more than 80% of the time. The study showed that the time invested in treatment was nor related to the renal disease progression, however, achieving a serum uric acid of less than 6 mg/dL was associated with a reduction of renal disease progression