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Objectives: A subset of gout patients developed persistent joint pain after flares. Analysis of this clinical phenomenon may shed further light on the factors related to worsening gout and even provide clues to its pathogenesis., Methods: We analyzed the clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound data of gout patients to explore the associations of these data with persistent joint pain after gout flares., Results: A total of 1029 gout patients were included: 182 (17.7%) patients with persistent joint pain and 847 (82.3%) patients with nonpersistent joint pain. Patients with persistent joint pain had more total involved joints, more gout flares in the past year, and more joints with simultaneous gout flares (P<0.01). Among the ultrasound-detected lesions, patients with persistent joint pain had a higher incidence of tophus (36.4% vs. 21.1%) and bone erosion (18.6% vs. 8.6%) (P<0.05). Higher UA and lower TBil were found in patients with persistent joint pain (P<0.001). Hypertension (54.9% vs. 38.7%) and metabolic syndrome (58.8% vs. 46.4%) were both more frequent in patients with persistent joint pain (P<0.05). TBil was negatively correlated with the incidence of persistent joint pain (P<0.001, r=-0.190), UA values (P<0.001, r=-0.125), and metabolic syndrome scores (P<0.001, r=-0.192). A correlation curve was fitted using LOESS (locally weighted region)., Conclusion: Persistent joint pain after gout flares is a marker of increased disease burden in gout. The significance of the level of total bilirubin for the exacerbation of gout deserves further study., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The relationship between tophaceous gout and metabolic markers is not well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the correlations between different metabolic markers and tophi and evaluate their potential predictive values for tophus., Method: We analysed the data of gout patients in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital from 2013 to 2020. Ten laboratory indicators (UA, eGFR, underexcretion, GLU, TRIG, HDL-C, ALT, TBIL, γ-GT and UPH) were included to evaluate the relationship between tophaceous gout and metabolic markers., Results: Tophi was present in 14.7% (119/808) of gout patients. UA, eGFR, ALT and γ-GT were independently related to the development of tophi; UA and γ-GT were positively correlated. The γ-GT/ALT ratio and UA/eGFR ratio showed a positive correlation with tophi, with (rho, P) of (0.305, < 0.001) and (0.195, < 0.001), respectively. The γ-GT/ALT ratio showed the best classificatory performance (AUC = 0.749, P < 0.001) for tophi among the four positive correlation indicators. With increasing integer γ-GT/ALT ratio, the incidence of tophi (4.9%, 9.7%, 22.3% and 38.4%, P < 0.001), chronic kidney disease (2.5%, 5.2%, 12.3% and 19.2%, P < 0.001) and hyperuricemia over 10 years (6.6%, 10.7%, 18.5% and 26.4%, P < 0.001) showed a progressive increase. The γ-GT/ALT ratio was positively correlated with the number of tophi and duration of hyperuricemia, negatively correlated with eGFR., Conclusions: UA, eGFR, γ-GT and ALT were independently associated with tophi. The γ-GT/ALT ratio may be used as a predictor or monitor of tophi., (© 2021. International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR).)