GOUT AND ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION: THERAPY PECULIARITIES

Abstract

The article highlights the issues on comorbidity between gout and hypertension. Emphasis is placed on the necessity in searching for a well-balanced approach toward the treatment this type of comorbidity. Gout is a major social and economic problem in the modern society that leads to a progressive physical incapability, limitation of professional activity, thus impairing the quality of life. Arterial hypertension occurs in patients with gout in 5 - 50% of cases, and in combination with components of metabolic syndrome its prevalence rises up to 80%. As a result, the development of hypertension in patients with gout leads to a deterioration of the kidney functioning due to the combination of two pathological conditions for which the kidneys are either functioning organs or target organs. Management of arterial hypertension by general practitioner requires the searching for the most optimal approach in using metabolically neutral antihypertensives to avoid provoking medication-induced exacerbation of arthritis. In addition, the treatment of such category of patients should also provide the optimal nephroprotective effect and decrease the uric acid concentration in the serum that will contribute to the additional prevention of gout attacks. The aim of the study is to evaluate the nephroprotective, antihypertensive, hypolipidemic effects of the proposed combined therapy in the patients with comorbidity between gout arthritis and arterial hypertension. The study was conducted at the Regional Medical and Diagnostic Centre of Rheumatological Diseases, M.V. Sklifosovskyi Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital, which is the clinical base of the Department of Family Medicine and Therapy, Ukrainian Medical Stomatological Academy. 60 patients with mean age of 54.2 ± 8.6 years were enrolled to the study. The patients suffering from gout arthritis and comorbid hypertension formed the main group. The control group consisted of 60 patients matched by age, demographic and clinical parameters. Following the 12-month treatment period, we have registered clinical effects of the combination therapy proposed in patients with gout and comorbid hypertension. We observed a decrease in blood lipids values in the study groups: total cholesterol decreased by 16.0% in the main group and by 8.0% in the control group, high-density lipoproteins – by 5.6% in the main group and by 6.4% in the control group, low density lipoproteins – by 3.3% in the main group and by 3.4% in the control group, triglycerides – by 22.2% in the main group and 12.3% in the control group. We observed statistically significant improvement in the glomerular filtration rate in the main group (6.4% of cases vs. 1.3% in the control group). The blood creatinine in the both study groups decreased significantly. The uric acid blood concentration decreased by 32.6% in the main group compared to 24.6% in the control group. During the six month period of the therapy the necessity for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs cut down by 58% in the study group vs. 37% in the control group. Conclusions. After 12 month period of therapy proposed, the patients with gout and comorbid hypertension demonstrated clinically confirmed improvement in both study groups (87.7% of patients in the main group vs. 48.6% in the control group). The efficacy of the proposed treatment was assessed by physicians up to 87%, vs.  88% efficacy assessed by the patients in the main group.