On top of giving us a better understanding of the causes of gout, the study gives scientists more options to explore when it comes to treatments, particularly in terms of managing the body’s immune response to the build up of uric acid. In fact, existing drugs could be repurposed for this job.
There are some limitations to the study: the majority of the data was from people of European ancestry, and some records relied on the self-reporting of gout rather than a clinical diagnosis. Nevertheless, it gives us a much better sense of a health problem that’s been afflicting people for centuries.
“We hope that, in time, better and more accessible treatments will become available with the new targets we identified,” said Merriman. “Gout deserves more health spend resource and greater prioritization in the health system.”
The research was published in Nature Genetics.
