Data Analysis Published in Hypertension Shows Responders to Pegloticase Treatment Had Significant Decreases in Blood Pressure

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May 16, 2019, 12:18 ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AMPEL BioSolutions, a leading data science and technology research firm based in Charlottesville, Virginia today announced the publication of data analysis from pegloticase trials in the journal Hypertension (Oxford University Press). The data demonstrate that reduction in serum urate as shown through treatment response with pegloticase significantly decreases blood pressure in patients with chronic gout.

Hypertension is a known co-morbidity of hyperuricemia and gout, though whether urate-lowering therapy (ULT) also alters blood pressure has been an unresolved issue. This analysis shows that patients with chronic gout who failed to respond to oral ULT experienced significant lowering of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure when treated with pegloticase as well as having persistent lowering of serum urate.

Pegloticase is a recombinant uricase molecule that directly degrades urate which enables the analysis to clearly link urate levels to blood pressure in this analysis. Moreover, the effects of significant urate-lowering from pegloticase in this group of patients with chronic gout, appeared to have a direct effect on blood pressure since there was no related effect on renal function.

Richard Johnson, Tomas Berl Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and co-author of the publication notes, "The observation that lowering uric acid with a uricase-based drug resulted in a lower blood pressure in these gout trials is interesting since this is a different way to lower uric acid. Hence, these data would support the concept that uric acid may have a role in blood pressure in subjects with gout." He acknowledges that although this was a retrospective analysis of published trials, these findings are important in alerting the medical community to the potential role of urate in blood pressure control and considering the importance of lowering urate as part of the program of blood pressure management.

Gout affects more than 9.2 million people with symptoms that include sudden painful swelling at the joints due to the formation of uric acid crystals. While gout is commonly associated with diet it can also be attributed to certain medications, family history of gout, and certain medical conditions like untreated high blood pressure and renal insufficiency. These findings show promise in developing a holistic approach to patient care that includes management of urate levels in addressing hypertension control effectively.

Horizon Pharma plc provided research support and funding for this analysis.

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CONTACT: Kate Vega, [email protected]

SOURCE AMPEL BioSolutions