The Pathophysiology of Uric Acid in Relation to Cardiovascular Disease

Uric acid is produced by the degradation of purines, a process catalysed by xanthine oxidase, which is also responsible for the production of toxic free radicals. This provides a central link to the association between serum uric acid and myocardial ischemia, myocardial dysfunction and also non-cardiac dysfunction in patients with heart disease, mainly due to an impaired peripheral circulation. Uric acid can thus be considered a marker for pathophysiological mechanisms in patients with heart disease, and thus an explanation for S-uric acid's prognostic importance. Inhibition of xanthine oxidase by allopurinol may possibly be used as a therapy for patients with heart disease in the future.