[Hereditary xanthinuria, rare cause of hypo-uric acidemia. 2 cases]

Hypouricemia can be observed in uncommon situations as in our two patients with hereditary xanthinuria.

In the first case, hereditary xanthinuria was discovered in a 36-year-old man when routine tests revealed hypouricemia. In the second case, a 76-year-old woman, hypouricemia was also a fortuitous discovery. She had major xanthinuria and a radiotranslucid lithiasis in the right kidney.

Hereditary xanthinuria is characterized by hypouricemia, low urinary urate excretion and increased concentration of xanthine and to a lesser extent hypoxanthine. The disease results from a defect in xanthine oxidase and is considered to be transmitted by autosomal recessive heredity. This rare metabolic disorder is more often asymptomatic and detected by routine chemistry. Development of xanthine lithiasis is directly related to the low solubility of xanthine and is the main complication of the disease, occurring in 30-40% of patients. There is no effective treatment and the only useful measure is to prevent xanthine urolithiasis by maintaining urinary output above 2 l/day.