[Association of serum uric acid level with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between the serum uric acid (UA) level and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS). METHODS: The serum UA levels were measured from 164 ALS patients and 164 gender and age matched controls. The serum creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were also measured to reduce the bias caused by possible differences in renal excretion function.The differences of the above indexes were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The serum UA levels in ALS patients were lower than those in healthy controls ((310±88) μmol/L vs (356±78) μmol/L, P<0.01). The differences were observed in both genders. In a Logistic regression model using ALS as a dependent variable, the serum UA level was significantly associated with ALS. The differences of the serum UA levels in ALS patients stratified by the revised ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS-R) and the progression rate of ALSFRS-R(ΔFS) were not statistically significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ALS patients are found to have significantly lower serum UA levels than healthy individuals. The serum UA level is not involved in disease severity and progression.