title: Prevalence and possible causes of hypouricemia at a tertiary care hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to investigate the prevalence and possible causes of hypouricemia in the Korean population and to compare our findings with published results of other populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the serum uric acid levels of 30,757 subjects who had their uric acid values measured at least once during a 1-year period. All individuals with hypouricemia (serum uric acid < 2.0 mg/dL, n = 424) were reviewed with respect to medical drug history and concomitant diseases previously identified as being associated with hypouricemia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of hypouricemia was 4.14% (299/7,223) among inpatients and 0.53% (125/23,534) among outpatients, for an overall prevalence of 1.39% (424/30,757). Possible causes associated with hypouricemia were found to be solid or hematologic malignancies (n = 86), diabetes mellitus (n = 56), and therapeutic drugs (n = 29). The medications were allopurinol (n = 11), angiotensin II receptor blockers (n = 10), salicylates (n = 6), febuxostat (n = 1), and warfarin (n = 1). In the remaining 226 individuals, the cause of hypouricemia was not identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hypouricemia is relatively common in the Korean population compared to those of other countries. The possible causes associated with hypouricemia are related to underlying diseases and medications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Nam
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Hyon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chan-Bum
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Kyoung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Hwan
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Cheol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dae-Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Bum
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000493:Allopurinol / Q000009:adverse effects; D057911:Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D057911:Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists; D014527:Uric Acid; D000493:Allopurinol
keywords: Hypouricemia; Uric acid