TOPLINE:
An intensive weight loss program is safe for individuals with gout and obesity but does not ease gout symptoms compared with a “control diet” with basic nutritional counseling.
METHODOLOGY:
- Weight loss is recommended as a gout management strategy, despite little clinical evidence.
- Researchers recruited 61 patients with gout and obesity to participate in a 16-week, randomized, nonblinded, parallel-group trial in Denmark.
- A total of 29 participants were assigned to an intensive, low-calorie diet with provided meal replacements.
- Another 32 participants were assigned to the “control diet” with basic nutritional counseling.
TAKEAWAY:
- Patients in the intensive group lost more weight (−15.4 kg/34 lbs) than those the control group (−7.7 kg/17 lbs).
- There were no differences in pain, fatigue, or gout flares between the two groups.
- Weight loss was associated with reduction in serum urate (SU).
- Patients in the intervention group had a numerically larger mean SU change (−0.6 mg/dL) than the control group (−0.3 mg/dL), but this difference was not statistically significant.
IN PRACTICE:
Weight loss can lower SU levels, but this did not translate to improved gout symptoms.
SOURCE:
Robin Christensen, PhD, and Kristian Zobbe, MD, PhD, of the Parker Institute at Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, were co-first authors of the study, published on January 2, 2024, in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
LIMITATIONS:
The study had a relatively small sample size and short-term intervention period, which may have made it difficult to detect differences between the intervention and control groups. Patients in the control group lost a significant amount of weight, which also affected comparisons between the two groups.
DISCLOSURES:
Several of the authors disclosed financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies. The Parker Institute, which funded the study, is supported by grants from the Oak Foundation and the Danish Rheumatism Association.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.