Serum uric acid level as a prognostic factor in sepsis outcome

Background Uric acid (UA) is the final product of metabolism of purine base, with either an antioxidant or a pro-oxidant according to the metabolic state. It was found that UA can give information about outcomes in multiple diseases. Depending on this view, research studies focused on UA to act as a biomarker of seriousness of illness in patients suffering from sepsis. Objective This study was targeted to evaluate if serum UA level can reflect the severity of sepsis state in critically ill patients and the prognosis of these patients. Materials and methods This prospective study using data extracted from patients of the ward, ICU of Internal Medicine Department and critical care unit from May 2019 to November 2019. The outcome was reported after 28 day from the date of admission to hospital regarding patient’s survival or not. Characteristics of the included patients were: age greater than 18 years, first time to admit to hospital, and patients who were diagnosed to have gout, chronic renal failure, malignancy, and those on diuretics were excluded. Results Variable levels of serum UA on admission did not reflect the rate of survival between patients with sepsis according to statistical results. So UA cannot act a predictor for mortality from sepsis. Conclusion UA level at the time of hospitalization cannot predict the survival rate of patients with sepsis.