Does Gout Reduce the Risk of Community-Acquired Infections?

Gout is not associated with a decreased risk of community-acquired infections, such as pneumonia, according to the findings of a recent study.

“The presence of a pro-inflammatory state related to hyperuricemia has led to the hypothesis that patients with gout may have an enhanced resistance to infections, because previous research indicated that IL-1bèta augments the quality of host defense against bacteria and viruses,” the researchers wrote.
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For their study, the researchers conducted a retrospective analysis using data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink that included a cohort of 131,565 patients with gout and 252,763 patients without gout as population-based controls (74% males, mean age was 64 years). Researchers followed patients for a median 6.7 years and compared incidents of pneumonia and urinary tract infections (UTI) between patients with gout and controls.

Contrary to their hypothesis, the researchers found that the risk of pneumonia was higher in patients with gout compared to controls, but the risk for UTI was similar between the 2 groups. Pneumonia infection-related mortality was not difference between the groups.

“This study showed that patients with gout had an increased risk of pneumonia and UTI, although for the latter these increased risks were attributable to classic risk factors,” the researchers concluded. “Future research is needed to elucidate the exact mechanisms between uric acid, interleukins, infections and the role of colchicine and allopurinol.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Spaetgens B, de Vries F, Driessen JHM, et al. Risk of infections in patients with gout: a population-based cohort study [published online May 3, 2017]. Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01588-5.