Causes and Symptoms of Gouty Nephropathy

Gouty Nephropathy is also named as Uric Acid Nephropathy. It results from hyperuricemia, which is caused by purine metabolic disturbance, excessive production of endogenous uric acid or less excretion of uric acid. When urate deposits in the medullary interstitial tissues or distal collecting duct, it can cause damage to renal parenchyma leading to Gouty Nephropathy. The main causes of Gouty Nephropathy are as follows:

1. Primary hyperuricemia: It results from congenital purine metabolic disturbance;

2. Secondary hyperuricemia: It is usually caused by malignant tumor.

As Gouty Nephropathy usually develops very latently, if you have the following symptoms, you had better go to do further exam to inspect if you have kidney damage.

1. Chronic Gouty Nephropathy: Chronic Gouty Nephropathy is very common among the middle-aged men. Most of the patients are accompanied by gouty joint pain or gouty tophus, uric acid lithangiuria. In the early period of the disease, the patients only have mild proteinuria or a small amount of red blood cells in urine. As the urine concentration ability declines and the urine osmotic pressure of urine is less than 800 mmol/L. But the glomerular filtration rate is normal. Therefore, if you have the above symptoms, you should pay more attention to your kidneys, especially those with gouty. Without effective treatment in time, the disease will affect the glomerular filtration ability and further lead to nephrosclerosis. Consequently, the patients will have obvious hypertension and azotaemia.

2. Acute Gouty Nephropathy: It usually occurs to the patients after getting myeloproliferative disease or using chemotherapeutics. A mass of cells are damaged so the catabolism of nucleic acid has hyperfunction. However, the chemotherapeutics obstruct the approach of recycle of nucleic acid. As a result, the metabolic products will cause hyperuricemia thus leading to gouty and Gouty Nephropathy. In addition, a large of uric acid and urate deposit in renal tubule and form crystal and then obstructs renal tubule thus leading to Acute Renal Failure. Moreover, the persistent attack of epilepsia can lead to ischemic muscle cells injury, which also may cause hyperuricemia.


Therefore, if you have a gouty history or the uric acid keeps higher than normal level over time, you should go to do regular exam so as to fine if you have renal injury in the first time.