A double blind placebo controlled randomized trial of the effect of acute uric acid changes on inflammatory markers in humans: A pilot study

Uric acid has been linked with increased risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease and this association has been attributed to a pro-inflammatory effect. Indeed, observational studies have shown that high uric acid is associated with high level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the blood. However, whether high uric acid directly affects inflammation or rather represents a parallel defensive antioxidant mechanism in response to pathology that causes inflammation is unknown. To determine whether acute increase or decrease uric acid levels affects inflammation in healthy individuals, a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind clinical study of uric acid or rasburicase with 20 healthy volunteers in each treatment-placebo group was conducted at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Clinical Research Unit (CRU) at Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Change in inflammatory response was assessed by administering an oral lipid tolerance before and after the treatment of uric acid, rasburicase and placebo. Following uric acid administration, there was an accentuated increase in IL-6 during the oral lipid tolerance test (P