Hyperuricemia and cardiovascular disease risk.

Uric acid (UA) is the final end product of purine catabolism and is formed from xanthines and hypoxanthines. Hyperuricemia can be secondary to either an exaggerated production of UA that follows high cellular turnover conditions or, most frequently, to a low renal excretion in patients with impaired renal function. Recent data suggest that serum UA (SUA) at high-normal level is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors and cardiovascular disease, often being a predictor of incident events. Preliminary data suggest that the reduction of SUA level in subjects with normal-high SUA could prevent at least a part of target-organ damage related to high SUA, especially when xanthine oxidase is selectively inhibited.