The ACR’s & EULAR’s Gout Guidelines Include Treatment Approaches

Cost of Treatment

Recent controversies around the new uricosuric drug lesinurad, she said, center on disappointing sales revenues. Data show that when combined with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI), lesinurad reduces uric acid compared to XOI alone. However, this drug carries a high price tag, about $394 per month, compared with other drugs used to treat gout, including allopurinol ($10 per month) and probenecid ($34 per month).

Dr. Rosenthal also mentioned drugs currently in development have both uricosuric and anti-inflammatory properties, which could simplify some of the complicated drug regimens now used to treat gout.

Mary Beth Nierengarten is a freelance medical journalist based in Minneapolis.

References

1. Khanna D, FitzGerald JD, Khanna PP, et al. 2012 American College of Rheumatology guidelines for management of gout. Part 1: Systematic nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic therapeutic approaches to hyperuricemia. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2012 Oct;64(10):1431–1446.
2. Richette P, Doherty M, Pascual E, et al. 2016 updated EULAR evidence-based recommendations for the management of gout. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Jan;76(1):29–42.
3. Su X, Xu B, Yan B, et al. Effects of uric acid-lowering therapy in patients with chronic kidney disease: A meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2017 Nov 2;12(11).
4. Cho SK, Chang Y, Kim I, et al. U-shaped association between serum uric acid level and risk of mortality: A cohort study. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018 Jul;70(7):1122–1132.