Inhibition of adjuvant-induced arthritis in the hyperuricemic rat.

In man, there is a strong negative correlation between gout and rheumatoid arthritis. To investigate this apparent mutual exclusion, we studied the influence of oxonate-induced hyperuricemia on the development of adjuvant arthritis in male Wistar rats. The results indicate that in the primary reaction (inflammation of the injected paw) the differences are weak (0.10 greater than p greater than 0.05) between normouricemic and hyperuricemic rats. In hyperuricemic rats the secondary reaction (induced polyarthritis) is delayed and significantly reduced (p less than 0.005). Non-immunologic carrageenin paw edema is not statistically different between the two groups (p greater than 0.25). Experimental hyperuricemia in rats seems to influence essentially the secondary, cell mediated, reaction without affecting the acute inflammatory phases.