Bone erosion and joint damage due to gout may be much more common in immunosuppressed, kidney transplant recipients than previously thought, a recent analysis suggests.
Investigators analyzed baseline dual-energy CT (DECT) scans of participants in the PROTECT study evaluating pegloticase and presented their findings in a poster at The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2024 in San Diego, California, held October 23-26.
HCPLive® spoke with coinvestigator Abdul Abdellatif, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and chief of nephrology at CLS Health in Texas, to learn more about the study’s findings.
“We need the community to be educated about the prevalence of gout and the need to treat with oral urate lowering agents. And if your patient does not meet the criteria for controlled gout, then you need to move on to the next step in their care, which is actually the last option they have. Beyond [pegloticase], nothing exists at this point to treat uncontrolled gout,” Abdellatif told HCPLive.
Abdellatif emphasized that the study’s findings highlight the need for clinicians treating chronic kidney disease (CKD) to screen for gout in their patients before it gets uncontrolled. Clinicians should also be aware of the risks of fractures and further bone damage in patients with gout and CKD. Ideally, the aim should be to prevent the progression of bone disease in these patients, treat underlying osteopenia, and treat early in disease progression.
In this clip, Abdellatif also discussed his outlook on cell and gene therapies in the field of kidney disease and their potential future impact.
