THE RENAL EXCRETION OF URIC ACID IN PATIENTS WITH GOUT AND IN NONGOUTY SUBJECTS *†

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Abstract
Renal function studies were performed on gouty patients and on non-gouty subjects under control conditions. The inulin and urate clearances, proportion of filtered urate excreted and rate of urate excretion were similar in the 2 groups. Subsequently, uric acid precursors were administered orally to the non-gouty subjects for 3-day periods to increase their plasma urate concentrations and filtered urate loads to the range found in the patients with gout. Under these conditions, the non-gouty subjects reabsorbed a smaller proportion of their filtered urate and achieved a urate clearance and urate excretion rate well above the levels observed in the gouty patients. It was concluded that the abnormal renal excretion of uric acid is an important cause of hyperuricemia in some patients with gout.