Relationship between serum allantoin and urate in healthy subjects and effects of benzbromarone in gout patients.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Although hyperuricemia is suggested to increase allantoin production in both pro- and antioxidant manners, it remains undetermined whether it increases the serum concentration of allantoin. In addition, since uric acid has both pro- and antioxidant actions, a decrease in the serum concentration of uric acid may have an effect on the pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance. METHODS: To examine whether serum allantoin is correlated with serum urate, we measured those levels as well as other parameters in 63 healthy subjects. In addition, to determine whether serum allantoin is correlated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) biomarkers, we measured 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine and 15-F2t-isoprostane, markers of ROS, in urine samples from 30 gout patients before and 1 year after benzbromarone treatment (50 mg/d). RESULTS: The serum concentration of allantoin was correlated with that of urate in healthy subjects (R = 0.27, p < 0.05). Benzbromarone treatment in the patients decreased the concentrations of allantoin and urate in serum by 17% (p < 0.05) and 49% (p < 0.05), respectively, and the benzbromarone-induced change in serum allantoin was correlated with that in serum urate (R = 0.39, p < 0.05). However, benzbromarone treatment did not change the ratios of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine/creatinine or 15-F2t-isoprostane/creatinine in urine. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that hyperuricemia contributes to an increase in serum concentration of allantoin, though they do not indicate that hyperuricemia is a major factor for controlling oxidative stress in vivo.