Gout Risk Linked to Genetic Genes

A study led by a team of scientists in Scotland suggests that genes may play a part in increasing one’s risk of developing gout. The presence of the gene variant appears to impede the ability of the kidneys to filter uric acid from the bloodstream. The level of risk that a person has for gout will depend on which form of the gene they may have inherited.

The study was published in the March 9th online issue of Nature Genetics and is the work of researchers based at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Great Britain.  The researchers studied the genes of more than 12,000 people and found that a gene variant may increase or lower the risk of a person developing gout. The gene variant in question is called SLC2A9, already known to scientists as a transporter of fructose. This study found the variant also plays a key role in transporting uric acid.

Professor Alan Wright of the MRC Human Genetics Unit and colleagues found that between 1.7 and 5.3 per cent of the variance in blood levels of uric acid was explained by the presence of this gene variant in a Croatian population sample, and that SLC2A9 was also linked with low levels of uric acid excretion and/or gout in population samples from the UK and Germany.

Researchers hope this discovery will lead to the development of improved diagnostics for the condition. The traditional view of gout is often associated with historical stereotypes of overindulgent people who eat and drink to excess, but in reality this often not the case.

There also appears to be a link between this study and another one that suggested excessive drinking of sugary soft drinks also increased the risk of gout, since the gene variant that appears to control the ability of the body to remove uric acid from the blood is the same one that transports fructose, a sugar often found in soft drinks.