Covid-19 related mortality more common in women with gout: Lancet

USA: In the UK Biobank cohort, gout is a potential risk for COVID-19-related mortality, with an elevated risk in women with gout, which has been driven by risk variables independent of gout's metabolic comorbidities, says an article published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

There is a scarcity of evidence on the results of persons suffering from gout and COVID-19. As a result, Ruth K Topless and colleagues undertook this study to determine if gout is a risk factor for COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality, as well as to look for gender and drug-specific changes in risk.

The researchers examined data from the UK Biobank, which contained 15 871 gout patients. Using a case-control research design, multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was utilized in the following analyses: to look for an association between gout and COVID-19 diagnostic test in the entire UK Biobank cohort; to look for a connection between gout and COVID-19-related death in people who have been known to have died or survived with COVID-19; to look for an affiliation between gout and COVID-19-related death in the entire UK Biobank cohort; as well as to look for an association between gout and COVID-19-related death in a subset of patients in the UK Biobank cohort with

The key findings of this study were as follow:

1. In the cohort of COVID-19 patients, gout was linked with the diagnosis of COVID-19 but not with the probability of COVID-19-related mortality.

2. Gout was linked with COVID-19-related death in the total population; women with gout had an elevated risk of COVID-19-related death, but males with gout did not.

3. There were no significant changes in the incidence of COVID-19-related mortality based on whether urate-lowering medication or colchicine was prescribed.

4. When gout patients were stratified by vaccination status, the risk of COVID-19 diagnosis was considerable in the non-vaccinated group but not in the vaccinated group.

In conclusion, researchers discovered an elevated risk of COVID-19-related mortality in persons with gout, with women bearing a heavier burden than males. Understanding the determinants of this higher risk in gouty women necessitates future research in bigger datasets.

Reference:

Topless RK, Gaffo A, Stamp LK, Robinson PC, Dalbeth N, Merriman TR. Gout and the risk of COVID-19 diagnosis and death in the UK Biobank: a population-based study. Lancet Rheumatol. 2022 Apr;4(4):e274-e281. doi:10.1016/S2665-9913(21)00401-X.