K. Kobayashi et al., DETERMINATION OF URIC-ACID IN SCALP HAIR FOR NONINVASIVE EVALUATION OF URICACIDEMIC CONTROLS IN HYPERURICEMIA, Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin, 21(4), 1998, pp. 398-400
The uric acid concentration in blood has been widely accepted asa diag
nostic indicator of hyperuricemia and gout, and its assay method is we
ll established, In the present study, we developed a simple and rapid
method for the determination of uric acid in hair, which can be obtain
ed non-invasively. The concentration (nmol/mg hair) of uric acid extra
cted from 10-20 mg hair with 0.1M potassium hydroxide was determined b
y an enzymatic method using uricase, The concentration of uric acid(nm
ol/mg hair, mean +/- S.D.: 0.49 +/- 0.157, n=16) in hair from hyperuri
cemic patients was significantly higher than that (0.26 +/- 0.107, n=8
) in healthy volunteers (p<0.01), The within-run and between-day preci
sion (CVs) of the assay was 9.6-10.3% (n=10 each) and 11.6-16.3% (n=7
each), respectively. The concentration (nmol/mg hair, y) of uric acid
in hair correlated well with that in serum (mg/l, x): y=0.09 x=0.12 (r
=0.75, S-yx=0.122, n=23). Changes in the concentration of uric acid in
the hair of antihyperuricemic drug-treated patient paralleled that in
serum, suggesting that the concentration of uric acid in hair is a re
liable indicator of the metabolic control in hyperuricemia.