Lead author Professor Tony Merriman, from the University of Otago’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, hopes the findings will help dispel some of the stigma surrounding gout.
“Gout is a chronic disease with a genetic basis and is not the patient’s fault. We need to break the myth that gout is caused by lifestyle and diet.
“This widespread myth creates shame for gout sufferers, with some suffering in silence and more likely not going to the doctor to receive preventative medication to lower uric acid levels in the blood and prevent pain. It will be.
“People believe that while certain dietary factors, such as eating red meat, can trigger gout attacks, the underlying cause may be high uric acid levels, crystals in the joints, and the ability to ‘attack’ the crystals. You need to understand that it is a primed immune system. Genetics plays a role in gout attacks. It plays an important role in all these processes. ”
This research has identified numerous immune genes and pathways that provide new targets and approaches to prevent gout attacks.
Professor Merriman hopes these findings will lead to improved treatments for gout patients.
“We hope that in time, better and more accessible treatments will be available using the new targets we have identified,” he says.
One such option could be the repurposing of drugs used to treat a variety of other immune-related diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. Tocilizumab targets the receptor for the immune signal transducer interleukin-6, which the study identified as a new gene for gout.
“Gout deserves more health care dollars and higher priority in the health care system.”
Information about gout:
– Gout is the most common form of arthritis in men. Approximately 3 to 4 times more men than women are affected.
– Gout attacks are caused by severe inflammation of the joints caused by a reaction to urate crystals. These crystals form in the joints when uric acid levels are high in the body.
– Although diet plays a very small role in high uric acid levels, it is well established that diet can trigger gout in people who have urate crystals in their joints.
– Gout can be effectively treated with drugs (such as allopurinol) that lower uric acid levels in the blood and prevent urate crystals from forming in the joints (or dissolving them if they are already present).
– Gout is a chronic disease, so treatment is lifelong.
