Vitamin C as a Serum Uric Acid Lowering Agent in Hyperuricaemia.

Objective: To assess the impact of Vitamin C supplementation compared to Allopurinol therapy on the modulation of serum uric acid levels in individuals diagnosed with hyperuricaemia.

Study design: A comparative analytical study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, in collaboration with the Department of Medicine and Rheumatology, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan, from May to December, 2023.

Methodology: Eighty-six hyperuricaemic patients were enrolled and segregated equally into two groups. Group 1 received Allopurinol while Group 2 received Allopurinol plus Vitamin C. Serum uric acid levels at days 0, 30, and 60 were monitored for the serum uric acid-lowering effect of medicines. Frequency and percentages were presented for qualitative variables such as gender and age. An independent t-test was applied to compare the serum uric acid level at different intervals between both groups. A p-value equal to or less than <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The Allopurinol Group's baseline serum uric acid level was 8.321 ± 0.097 mg/dl, and the baseline value of serum uric acid of Allopurinol plus Vitamin C was 8.547 ± 0.101 mg/dl. At day 60th, the mean serum uric acid level in the Allopurinol group was 7.524 ± 0.097 with p <0.001. In the Vitamin C plus Allopurinol group, the mean serum uric acid level was 6.371 ± 0.161 with a p-value <0.001. In the Allopurinol plus vitamin C group, the percentage reduction in serum uric acid level was more than 25.44% as compared to the Allopurinol group of 9.51%.

Conclusion: Vitamin C used with Allopurinol as an adjunct therapy is a more potent pharmacological strategy for lowering blood uric acid levels in hyperuricaemic patients than alone.

Key words: Hyperuricaemia, Vitamin C, Allopurinol, Uric acid.