探討台灣痛風病人的高尿酸血症與高敏感性C－－反應蛋白的關係

Association of high sensitivity C-reactive protein with hyperuricemia in Taiwanese patients with gout

目的：探討台灣痛風病人的高尿酸血症與高敏感性C-反應蛋白（hsCRP）的關係。方法：門診收集四十位確定痛風患者和二十五位正常健康者之血清，以酵素連結免疫吸附分析法（ELISA）去測定血清的hsCRP，另外尚檢測血中尿酸及紅血球沈降速率，同時紀錄每位參與者的病程長短，視覺類比量表疼痛分數（VAS pain score）和痛風石的有無。最後針對痛風患者，進行hsCRP和臨床特徵或實驗室數據的相關性的分析。結果：痛風患者血清的hsCRP的值明顯地高於正常健康對照者（p<0.001）。且此血清hsCRP和紅血球沈降速率（r = 0.549，p<0.001），尿酸（r = 0.381，p=0.020）及視覺類比量表疼痛評分成正相關（r = 0.385，p=0.014），但與病程的長短與痛風石的存在與否無關。結論：在台灣的痛風患者，hsCRP與高尿酸血症，紅血球沈降速率及視覺類比量表疼痛分數高低有關。未來擬探討增加的hsCRP是否可作為控制不佳的高尿酸血症或痛風性關節炎的指標。

Objective: To analyze the relationship between high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and hyperuricemia in gout patients in a Taiwan population. Methods: Forty gout patients and 25 normal healthy control subjects were recruited. The serum hsCRP, uric acid, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels of each participant were measured. The disease duration, visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score and presence or absence of tophi were recorded. The correlations between hsCRP levels and clinical features or laboratory profiles in gout patients were analyzed. Results: The findings demonstrated statistical significance in hsCRP levels in gout patients compared with normal healthy control individuals (p<0.001). HsCRP correlated with serum ESR (r = 0.549, p<0.001), uric acid (r = 0.381, p=0.020) and the VAS pain score (r = 0.385, p=0.014), but not with disease duration and presence of tophi. Conclusion: HsCRP was associated with hyperuricemia, high ESR levels and high VAS pain scores in gout patients in Taiwan, suggesting increased hsCRP may be an indicator of uncontrolled hyperuricemia or gouty arthritis.