Background/Purpose: SARS-Cov-2 is an acute viral respiratory illness that has several symptomatic manifestations ranging in severity from asymptomatic infection to debilitating disease. Poor prognosis and increased incidence has been seen in patients with underlying comorbidities such as diabetes, gout and heart disease. Gout patients frequently present with various comorbidities, thus making them more susceptible to SARS-Cov-2 infection, predisposing them to poorer outcomes. The purpose of this review is to analyze the correlation, incidence, outcomes and risk factors pertaining to SARS-Cov-2 patients with gout.

Methods/Design: The search strategy was constructed by an analysis of key terms from relevant articles in MEDLINE ProQuest, EMBASE, and PubMed. The key terms used to search for these articles were “gout,” “gouty arthritis,” “uric acid”, “inflammatory arthritis”, “coronavirus”, “COVID” and “SARS-COV”. A total of 685 articles published in English between January 1, 2003-November 2, 2023 were identified and screened for eligibility by members of the research team, which resulted in 22 total articles selected for the final review.

Results/Findings: In most patients diagnosed with gout, it is evident there is a high level of serum uric acid. Serum uric acid is a biomarker that can be useful in determining the outcome of disease severity in gout patients infected with SARS-Cov-2 as well as estimates the mortality rate in ICU patients. Studies have shown that at both lower levels of uric acid as well as higher levels of uric acid levels in patients lead to hospitalization with worse outcomes in a “U-shaped” distribution. Patients hospitalized with SARS-Cov-2 and gout were more likely to require ventilator support. Other risk factors contributing to longer disease duration and severe SARS-Cov-2 infection included older age, female gender, and comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes. Additionally, studies have found that those who were vaccinated against SARS-Cov-2 had a lower risk of hospitalization.

Conclusions/Implications: SARS-Cov-2 has several symptom manifestations that range in each individual in regard to severity. Patients experiencing comorbidities, such as gout, have worse outcomes. Uric acid is a useful biomarker to determine severity in gout patients. Future studies should focus on a treatment approach to decrease mortality in patients with gout and SARS-Cov-2 infection.

References and Resources

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