Should clinicians reconsider standard therapy for gout?

Gout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in the joints, and xanthine oxidase inhibitors such as febuxostat are a mainstay of therapy to help reduce blood urate levels in affected patients. A recent clinical trial published in Arthritis & Rheumatology has found that low doses of a less commonly used drug called benzbromarone may be a better option, however.

In the prospective single-center, open-labeled trial, 196 men with gout and low urinary excretion of uric acid were randomized to receive low-dose benzbromarone (LDBen) or low-dose febuxostat (LDFeb) for 12 weeks.

More participants in the LDBen group achieved the blood urate target of

“The results suggest that low dosing of benzbromarone may warrant stronger consideration as a safe and effective therapy to achieve serum urate target in gout,” the authors wrote.