Hyperuricemia in the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · Arthritis Rheum.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/art.1780270620· OSTI ID:5877950

Adams, W H; Harper, J A; Heotis, P M; Jamner, A H

Annual medical examinations are conducted by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for a population of Marshallese who were accidentally exposed to radioactive fallout in 1954, for a comparison population, and for all inhabitants of the atolls of Rongelap and Utirik. Disease surveillance includes analysis of serum samples. Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels are common along Pacific populations, and modifying environmental factors have been investigated as a cause for this finding. The authors have studied SUA levels of people living in the Marshall Islands, and have found elevated values similar to those reported for other Micronesian populations. The nearly Gaussian distribution of individual serum uric acid values for men, and for women less than or equal to45 years of age, indicates that the elevation is due to a regularized increase in serum uric acid rather than to a subpopulation that has pathologic hyperuricemia. The higher serum uric acid levels appear, therefore, to be normal for the Marshallese, a conclusion supported by the infrequency of clinical gout in the population tested.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY
• OSTI ID: 5877950
• Journal Information: Arthritis Rheum.; (United States), Journal Name: Arthritis Rheum.; (United States) Vol. 27:6; ISSN ARHEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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560151* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACCIDENTS
AROMATICS
AZAARENES
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BNL
DATA
DISEASES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FALLOUT
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
ISLANDS
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
OCEANIA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PATHOGENESIS
PURINES
RADIATION ACCIDENTS
RADIATION EFFECTS
URIC ACID
UROGENITAL SYSTEM DISEASES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
XANTHINES