Allopurinol and Dietary Purine Affect Urinary Uric Acid but not Urinary Oxalate Levels

Previously, we and others showed that the ingestion of a non-specific high-purine diet by healthy subjects increased not only urinary uric acid, but urinary oxalate levels as well. Significant reductions in both parameters was noted during concomitant allopurinol therapy. The present more-detailed study was undertaken to investigate this more fully by the use of a strictly-controlled low-purine/low-oxalate dietary regime, together with a single, specific purine additive - the nucleoside, guanosine (the principal purine in beer in which it can occur in concentrations up to 0,3 M). In addition, several different methods for oxalate determination, including GLC, HPLC, and isotacophoresis were investigated in comparison with the enzymatic method used previously.