Abstract
Hyperuricemia is known to be frequently accompanied by hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity and arteriosclerosis. But there is no reprot on the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and blood viscosity which is known to be an important factor of thrombosis. We measured blood viscosity, SUA, hematocrit and other general blood chemistry in 84 healthy volunteers. There was a significant correlation between SUA and blood viscosity. This apparent correlation was found to be mediated by higher hematocrit values in persons with higher SUA values, Actually, it is known that hyperuricemics have higher concentration of hemoglobin than normals.
Treatment with 200mg allopurinol/day of hyperuricemic patients for 2 weeks decreased blood and plasma viscosities in 6 out of 7 patients, but not signifcantly. The incubation of red blood cells with UA (12mg/dl) containing buffer did not change the red cell filtrability to a filter with 5μ pores.
Hyperuricemics are said to have high incidence of thrombotic diseases. This could partly be explained by our findings on the relationship between SUA and blood viscosity.
