[in Japanese]

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We studied the effects of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking on serum lipid and urate levels in 66 smokers (non-drinkers) and 121 alcohol drinkers (non-smokers) among 1,342 men, participating in an annual health examination.
Smokers had signi ficantlylower HDL-cholesterol levels, and significantly higher both LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels than those of non-smokers. However, serum urate levels of smokers were not significantly elevated compared with those of non-smokers. In alcohol drinkers, serum triglyceride levels were significantly higher than those of non-drinkers, but HDL-cholesterol levels remained within its reference interval. The serum urate level had a tendency to significantly increase with the amount of alcoholic intake by an average of 0.7mg/dl with alcohol consumptionof over lgo (180ml)/day (in terms of Japanese Sake), namely over 23gr. alcohol daily (p<0.05).

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It is well recognized that patients with gout are susceptible to acute arthritis during the initial period following the start of uricosuric agents or allopurinol, however, the factors that make these patients susceptible are not well understood.
We analyzed the incidence of gouty arthritis along with the serum uric acid level during the first six visits in 350 gout patients who just started uricosuric agents or allopurenol. On comparison of patients with and without gout arthritis during this period, maintaining the serum uric acid level between 5.0∼6.4mg/dl was the most beneficial for the prevention of gouty arthritis.
Smaller variation in serum uric acid and an, average serum uric acid level between 5.0∼6.4mg /dl were useful in preventing acute arthritis.

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