Febuxostat initiation not associated with prolonged acute gout flares: Study

China: Febuxostat initiation during an acute gout flare does not lead to prolonged duration of acute flares, finds a recent study. According to the study, published in the journal Rheumatology, patients who were administered febuxostat had a lower serum uric acid (sUA) levels and a lower rate of recurrent gout flares.

Gout is a form of arthritis that results from the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystal. For gout patients, urate-lowering treatment (ULT) is essential. Generally, ULT initiation is recommended after the resolution of acute flare to avoid prolongation of symptoms. The incidence of gout flares is positively associated with reduction of sUA in the first few months after initiating ULT.

Previous small randomized clinical trials have shown that initiating allopurinol treatment during an acute gout flare did not prolong painful gout flares. Febuxostat (40 mg/day) was found to have a superior urate-lowering effect compared with limited allopurinol doses (maximum 200–300 mg/day).

Presently, no studies have been published on the febuxostat initiation of acute gout flares. To fill this knowledge gap, Yanying Zhang, University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, and colleagues aimed to to determine whether initiation of febuxostat during an acute gout flare prolongs the current episode.