Changes in urate metabolism after castration of patients suffering from carcinoma of the prostate

13 patients with carcinoma of the prostate were investigated on a low purine diet before and after surgical castration, performed to slow progression of their disease. A control group of herniorrhaphy patients was similarly studied. The 2 groups were very similar pre-operatively except for urea which was higher pre-operatively in patients than controls (p0.004). Testosterone levels fell significantly in patients soon after surgery (W0.002). There was a significant fall in serum uric acid in the early post-operative phase in both patients (W0.004) and controls (W0.01) but the fall only remained significant one month after surgery in castrated patients (W0.007). Urinary uric acid levels in patients fell significantly soon after surgery (W0.04). This is a small study but results suggest that endogenous male hormones are at least partially responsible for serum uric acid levels since castration, with reduction in circulating testosterone, resulted in a fall in these levels.