Hyperuricemia in Renal Allograft Recipients.

INTRODUCTION : Hyperuricemia has been commonly associated with renal and cardiovascular diseases. In patients with gout, before the availability of antihyperuricemic treatment, 25% of patients developed proteinuria, 50% had chronic kidney disease, and 10–25% had end stage kidney disease. It is also more commonly seen in individuals with hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome etc. Over the years with widespread changes in dietary habits, there has been a worldwide epidemic of hyperuricemia, metabolic syndrome, obesity and type- 2-diabetes. The animal models and experimental studies have further strengthened this association. AIM / OBJECTIVES : The primary objective was to assess the prevalence, clinical and biochemical predictors of hyperuricemia in renal allograft recipients. The secondary objective was to find association of graft function with hyperuricemia. MATERIAL AND METHODS : We conducted a retrospective study on 283 renal allograft recipients with at least 6 month follow up. The data was recorded for each month till 6months and at 12th and 18th month and thereafter annually. We determined eGFR and occurrence of hyperuricemia, dyslipidemia, NODAT, acute rejection episodes. Hyperuricemia was defined as >6mg/dl in women and >7mg/dl in men and subdivided into early and late onset (year) and mild and moderate to severe (mg/dl). The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software and independent t-test and Fisher’s exact test or chi square test were performed depending on variables. RESULTS : The prevalence of hyperuricemia was 26.8%. The mean time to onset of hyperuricemia was 6mths. Majority of the patients had early hyperuricemia (