Gout Medications May Help Treat Liver Disease

New findings published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology reveal that gout medications may help to treat liver disease.

Researchers found that two commonly used gout medications may offer protection from alcohol-induced liver disease and inflammation related to the health issue.

"We are increasingly appreciating the central role of inflammation and immune responses in a variety of diverse diseases," said Dr. John Wherry, deputy editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, in a press release. "The link between alcohol induced tissue damage and sensing by the immune system through the inflammasome opens the door for new therapeutics targeting this type of inflammation in liver diseases."

During the study, researchers used immune cells from human volunteers and four groups of mice. They isolated the immune cells in the humans and exposed them to alcohol-treated human hepatocytes in a test tube. Findings revealed that uric acid and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which are released by alcohol-damaged hepatocytes, activated the inflammasome--otherwise known as a component of the innate immune system.

On the other hand, researchers gave one group of mice deficient in the NLRP3 inflammasome component and one group of wild-type mice a chronic alcohol-containing diet. They gave the other groups of wild-type mice and NLRP3 deficient mice an alcohol-free diet.

The NLRP3-deficient mice and those not on the alcohol-free diets did not have signs of liver disease. However, the wild-type mice fed the chronic alcohol diet developed characteristics similar to alcoholic liver disease that included levels similar to "sterile danger molecules," uric acid and ATP.

"This study should ultimately help patients with alcoholic liver disease to prevent or treat acute episodes of alcoholic hepatitis, a potentially lethal condition," said Dr. Gyongyi Szabo, in Department of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

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