Arthritis Rheum：摄入樱桃或樱桃提取物降低痛风发作风险

在一项新的研究中，研究人员发现，在两天内吃樱桃的痛风患者痛风发作的风险要比不吃这种水果的患者降低35％。这项病例交叉研究的结果于近期刊登在美国大学风湿病学会旗下Arthritis & Rheumatism期刊上。它还表明着当樱花摄入与降低尿酸的药物别嘌呤醇(allopurinol)治疗结合在一起时，痛风发作的风险要比这段时间不摄入樱花或接受药物治疗的病人降低75%。

以前的研究报道过，在美国有830万的成年人患有痛风，即一种尿酸在关节内结晶而触发的炎症性关节炎，它导致病人疼痛无比和肿胀。尽管有许多可供选择的治疗方法，但是痛风患者继续遭受经常性痛风发作的折磨，这就患者和研究人员寻求其他的预防性方法，如樱桃。在此之前的研究表明樱桃产品具有降低尿酸的作用和抗发炎的性质，因而有潜力减轻痛风疼痛。但是尚没有研究评估吃樱桃是否能够降低痛风发作的风险。

在当前的这项研究中，论文第一作者、美国波士顿大学医学与公共卫生学院教授Yuqing Zhang博士和他的同事们招募了633名痛风患者参与研究，并对这些患者在线追踪一年。研究人员询问这些患者的痛风发作日期、症状、服用药物和风险因素，还包括在痛风发作之前的两天内樱桃提取物摄入情况。每次摄入的樱桃量时半杯樱桃或10到12个樱桃。

研究参与者平均年龄为54岁，其中88％的参与者为白人，男性所占比例为78％。在这些病人当中，35%的人吃新鲜的樱桃水果，2％的人摄入樱桃提取物，5％的人既摄入新鲜的樱桃水果，也摄入樱桃提取物。在为期一年的追踪期间，研究人员记录了1247次痛风发作，其中92％的痛风发生于大脚趾底部的关节中。

Zhang博士说，“我们的研究结果表明，摄入樱桃或樱桃提取物降低痛风发作的风险。当两天内樱桃摄入量增加到三次时，痛风发作的风险继续下降。” 研究人员发现，进一步增加樱桃的摄入量并没有提供任何额外的益处。不过，即便考虑患者的性别、体重(肥胖)、嘌呤摄入量以及使用酒精、利尿剂和抗痛风药物，摄入樱桃的保护性效果仍然持续存在。

Cherry consumption and the risk of recurrent gout attacks

Yuqing Zhang, Tuhina Neogi, Clara Chen, Christine Chaisson, David Hunter, Hyon K. Choi

Objective:
To study the relation between cherry intake and the risk of recurrent gout attacks among individuals with gout.

Methods:
We conducted a case-crossover study to examine associations of a set of putative risk factors with recurrent gout attacks. Individuals with gout were prospectively recruited and followed online for one year. Participants were asked about the following information when experiencing a gout attack: the onset date of the gout attack, symptoms and signs, medications (including anti-gout medications), and potential risk factors (including daily intake of cherries and cherry extract) during the 2-day period prior to the gout attack. We assessed the same exposure information over 2-day control periods. We estimated the risk of recurrent gout attacks related to cherry intake using conditional logistic regression.

Results:
Our study included 633 individuals with gout. Cherry intake over a 2-day period was associated with a 35% lower risk of gout attacks compared with no intake (multivariate odds ratio [OR] = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.50-0.85). Cherry extract intake showed a similar inverse association (multivariate OR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.30-0.98). The effect of cherry intake persisted across subgroups by sex, obesity status, purine intake, alcohol use, diuretic use, and use of anti-gout medications. When cherry intake was combined with allopurinol use, the risk of gout attacks was 75% lower than periods without either exposure (OR=0.25, 95% CI: 0.15-0.42).

Conclusions:
These findings suggest that cherry intake is associated with a lower risk of gout attacks. © 2012 American College of Rheumatology.