Gout May Protect Against Risk of Parkinson's Disease

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 7 -- Patients with gout were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, a cohort study found, supporting the purported protective role of uric acid.

The risk of Parkinson's disease was 30% lower among patients with a history of gout, independent of age, sex, prior medical conditions, and the use of diuretics, Hyon Choi, M.D., of the University of British Columbia, and colleagues reported online in Arthritis Care & Research.

Several epidemiologic studies have suggested that higher serum uric acid levels lead to a lower risk of Parkinson's disease, possibly because uric acid exerts antioxidant effects on neurons, the investigators said.

Uric acid can scavenge superoxide, hydroxyl radical, and singlet oxygen, as well as chelate transition metals, they said. With these antioxidant properties, uric acid has been hypothesized to protect against oxidative stress, a prominent contributor to dopaminergic neuron degeneration in Parkinson's disease./.../