A new study found that patients with gout who consumed cherries over a
two-day period showed a 35% lower risk of gout attacks compared to those
who did not eat the fruit. Findings from this case-crossover study
published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College
of Rheumatology (ACR), also suggest that risk of gout flares was 75%
lower when cherry intake was combined with the uric-acid reducing drug,
allopurinol, than in periods without exposure to cherries or treatment.
Previous research reports that 8.3 million adults in the U.S. suffer
with gout, an inflammatory arthritis triggered by a crystallization of
uric acid within the joints that causes excruciating pain and swelling.
While there are many treatment options available, gout patients continue
to be burdened by recurrent gout attacks, prompting patients and
investigators to seek other preventive options such as cherries. Prior
studies suggest that cherry products have urate-lowering effects and
anti-inflammatory properties, and thus may have the potential to reduce
gout pain. However, no study has yet to assess whether cherry
consumption could lower risk of gout attacks.
For the present study, lead author Dr. Yuqing Zhang, Professor of
Medicine and Public Health at Boston University and colleagues recruited
633 gout patients who were followed online for one year. Participants
were asked about the date of gout onset, symptoms, medications and risk
factors, including cherry and cherry extract intake in the two days
prior to the gout attack. A cherry serving was one half cup or 10 to 12
cherries.
Participants had a mean age of 54 years, with 88% being white and 78% of
subjects were male. Of those subjects with some form of cherry intake,
35% ate fresh cherries, 2% ingested cherry extract, and 5% consumed both
fresh cherry fruit and cherry extract. Researchers documented 1,247 gout
attacks during the one-year follow-up period, with 92% occurring in the
joint at the base of the big toe.
“Our findings indicate that consuming cherries or cherry extract lowers
the risk of gout attack,” said Dr. Zhang. “The gout flare risk continued
to decrease with increasing cherry consumption, up to three servings
over two days.” The authors found that further cherry intake did not
provide any additional benefit. However, the protective effect of cherry
intake persisted after taking into account patients’ sex, body mass
(obesity), purine intake, along with use of alcohol, diuretics and
anti-gout medications.
In their editorial, also published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, Dr. Allan
Gelber from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore,
Md. and Dr. Daniel Solomon from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard
University Medical School in Boston, Mass. highlight the importance of
the study by Zhang et al. as it focuses on dietary intake and risk of
recurrent gout attacks. While the current findings are promising, Gelber
and Solomon "would not advise that patients who suffer from gout attacks
abandon standard therapies.” Both the editorial and study authors concur
that randomized clinical trials are necessary to confirm that
consumption of cherry products could prevent gout attacks
This research was funded by grants from the National Institute of
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Arthritis
Foundation and ACR Research and Education Fund.
