The effect of uric acid-lowering therapy on vascular stiffness in patients with gout

Several studies have reported that vascular stiffness and risk of cardiovascular disease increase in patients with gout. Although it has been reported that uric acid-lowering treatment improves vascular stiffness in several patient groups, it remains unclear whether uric acid-lowering treatment improves vascular stiffness in patients with gout. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether vascular stiffness improves by measuring the augmentation index along with uric acid-lowering treatment for 2 years in patients with gout. This study showed that vascular stiffness improved in 67% of the patients, and patients with high initial vascular stiffness showed better improvement in vascular stiffness after uric acid-lowering treatment. Regression analysis was performed to identify factors that improved vascular stiffness; however, no factors that improved vascular stiffness were found. Among patients who had already received uric acid-lowering treatment for more than 2 years before starting augmentation index measurements, 67.7% showed improvement in vascular stiffness. Therefore, it is believed that uric acid-lowering treatment in patients with gout can improve vascular stiffness, and if uric acid-lowering treatment is continued, improvement in vascular stiffness is expected to occur gradually over a long period of time.