Evaluation of Oxidative Status of Gout Patients in Cameroon

Gout, one of the most painful form of inflammatory arthritis, is characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, redness and tenderness in joints, often the joint at the base of the big toe. It’s reported that gout is one of the most frequently referenced medical disorders in the history of mankind and its cases have increased in recent years because of an aging population, the rise in obesity, increasing numbers of people who also have other conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease, and/or diabetes. And it’s the result of too much uric acid in the blood, which is called hyperuricemia.

According to some literature, it has been proved that hyperuricemia is associated to the development of high blood pressure, type II diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events and it seems that this relationship is based on oxidative stress, which is essentially an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants.

In this paper, to know about the relationship between these diseases and hyperuricemia, the authors conducted a case-control study from the 4th January to the 4th May 2016 at the Rheumatology service of the Yaoundé Central Hospital and aimed to determine the oxidative status of patients with gout attack. They first collected 60 samples and the average age of gout patients was 58 ± 8 years old that of the controls was 57.6 ± 8 years old; then carried out basic physical examination and collected blood samples; next they conducted biochemical analysis and statistical analysis.

The findings indicated that people affected by gout had over 50 years old (90%) and the most represented age group was 50 to 60 years old (53%); the average uricemia of cases (81 ± 20 mg/L) was statistically higher than that of the controls; the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were higher among cases (1.37 ± 0.46 mmol/L) compared to controls (1.14 ± 0.39 mmol/L); and there was no significant difference in serum levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) between cases and controls. SOD, GPx, MDA and catalase are markers of oxidative stress.

In conclusion, patients with acute gout have an elevated serum level of malondialdehyde, but their oxidative status seems similar to that of normal individuals.

Article by Jan René Nkeck, et al, from Yaoundé, Cameroon.

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