Larger blood and urine ranges of uric acid could cause gout (painful uric acid crystal deposition in joints) and kidney illness. Extra lately, uric acid has additionally been related to elevated threat for metabolic syndrome, kind 2 diabetes, heart problems, kidney and liver illness even within the absence of gout assaults, i.e., “asymptomatic hyperuricemia” or asymptomatic will increase in blood ranges of uric acid. Typical “remedies” contain lowering the dietary consumption of purines, i.e., the genetic (DNA and RNA) materials current in animal merchandise, and prescription drugs that block the enzyme, xanthine oxidase, that yields uric acid. As in so many different circumstances, the traditional options deal with “downstream” phenomena however fail to deal with the precise trigger—not weight loss program, however disruptions of bowel flora composition with lack of microbial species which can be vigorous in metabolizing uric acid, thereby lowering blood and urine ranges. This science has been unfolding for concerning the previous decade, however it has lately galloped ahead with a flood of latest observations which can be yielding therapeutic potentialities in managing uric acid. (It additionally addresses a elementary flaw in standard considering: Why would people, genetically-adapted over three million years to consuming animal merchandise equivalent to meats, organs, and seafood, develop an intolerance to them? The issue shouldn’t be animal merchandise; it’s the capability to metabolize elements equivalent to uric acid, disrupted by shifts in gastrointestinal (G) microbiome composition as a consequence of trendy life and maybe worsened by a nutrient- and polyphenol-poor trendy weight loss program.)
Individuals with gout and hyperuricemia have been proven to have 1) disrupted gastrointestinal microbiome composition with elevated Proteobacteria (fecal species) and mucin-degraders equivalent to Bacteroides caccae, 2) elevated intestinal permeability, and three) elevated endotoxemia, all of which additional provides to irritation, insulin resistance, and susceptibility to heart problems. You’ll be able to admire that gout and hyperuricemia are usually not nearly uric acid, however a constellation of phenomena, a lot of which might be backtracked to a disrupted GI microbiome.
The listing of gastrointestinal microbes that metabolize uric acid in numerous methods is rising quickly, largely Lactobacillus species which have developed to be environment friendly metabolizers of purines and different genetic materials. Among the many species/strains which were related to decreased blood and urinary ranges of uric acid embrace:
- Lactobacillus brevis DSM9218
- Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1
- Lactobacillus paracasei S12
- Limosilactobacillus fermentum GR-3
- Lacticaseibacillus paracasei MJM60396
- Ligillactobacillus salivarius CECT 30632
A human examine of the final microbe listed, L. salivarius CECT 30632 at a every day dose of 1 billion CFUs per day for six months, demonstrated a marked discount in gout episodes, reliance on gout treatment, and decreased blood ranges of uric acid in comparison with placebo.
Along with over proliferation of fecal microbes and mucin-degrading species, lack of essential butyrate-producing species, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bifidobacteria species, has additionally been documented. Though F. prausnitzii and Bifidobacteria species don’t themselves metabolize uric acid, they in some way help those who do. Recall that prebiotic fibers equivalent to inulin/FOS trigger a “bloom” in these species, which will additionally add additional benefit. Additional, microbial metabolism of purines and different genetic materials is considerably elevated when glucose (sugar) is much less out there; in different phrases, a scenario during which insulin resistance and blood glucose are introduced underneath management could additional improve the microbiome’s capability to rid your physique of purines and thereby uric acid.
In fact, you could possibly attempt to get hold of and ferment a few of these species, as we do with our L. reuteri and L. gasseri yogurts to acquire excessive bacterial counts to make sure significant organic results equivalent to eradication of SIBO, smoother pores and skin, elevated libido, decreased intestinal permeability and decreased endotoxemia. However, as you may admire, it turns into impractical to ferment every species we need to colonize our GI tracts. Curiously, nearly all of species that metabolize purines and thereby scale back uric acid come from fermented meals equivalent to sauerkraut, pickles, and kimchi. Maybe in future we can get hold of a number of of these microbes equivalent to L. salivarius CECT 30632 that you could possibly ferment as yogurt to amplify uric acid-reducing results. There may be sometimes a a number of yr lag going from laboratory remark to business availability, so these microbial strains are usually not but out there. Keep tuned.
By the best way, uric acid shouldn’t be the one issue that’s proving to be a metabolic consequence of a disrupted gastrointestinal microbiome. Add oxalates, homocysteine, vitamin B12 deficiency, folate deficiency and plenty of different conditions which can be yielding to insights into the microbiome that, like uric acid, ought to trigger us to rethink all we thought we knew about these phenomena.
