Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Nephrol. Jul 6, 2015; 4(3): 324-329
Published online Jul 6, 2015. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v4.i3.324
Asymptomatic hyperuricemia following renal transplantation
Gianni Bellomo
Gianni Bellomo, Department of Nephrology, MVT Hospital, 06059 Todi(Pg), Italy
Author contributions: Bellomo G solely contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author hereby declares to hold no conflicts of interest whatsoever.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Gianni Bellomo, MD, Department of Nephrology, MVT Hospital, Str. Del Buda, 1, 06059 Todi(Pg), Italy. assidial@tin.it
Telephone: +39-075-8880691
Received: January 25, 2015
Peer-review started: January 26, 2015
First decision: March 6, 2015
Revised: March 19, 2015
Accepted: April 16, 2015
Article in press: April 20, 2015
Published online: July 6, 2015
Processing time: 161 Days and 23.3 Hours
Abstract

Evidence is accumulating indicating a role for uric acid in the genesis and progression of kidney disease, and a few studies are beginning to show a possible beneficial effect of urate-lowering therapy. Whether this holds true for renal allograft recipients is not clear. In this short review evidence from epidemiological as well as intervention studies is summarized and discussed, with some practical considerations presented at the end.

Keywords: Uric acid; Renal transplant; Urate lowering therapy; Allopurinol; Febuxostat

Core tip: Hyperuricemia is a common finding following renal transplantation; its clinical, as well as prognostic, significance, however, is not known. We have summarized available evidence from human epidemiological and intervention studies and concluded that, in the absence of gout, evidence in support of treatment for this condition in renal graft recipients is insufficient at present, although, when required, treatment with low-dose allopurinol or febuxostat appears to be safe.