Urinary uric acid excretion in term and premature infants

Objective: To clarify postnatal changes in urinary uric acid (UA) excretion in normal term infants and to examine the effects of prematurity or illness on the UA excretion. Methodology: Measurements of urinary UA were performed in term and premature infants at the ages of 1 and 7 days and at 1 and 4 months, as well as at 7 months in term infants. Results: Urinary UA levels were lowest on day 7 in term infants. The levels were highest on day 1 in premature infants and remained significantly higher compared to term babies during the first month of life. Respiratory failure requiring ventilation and oxygen supply resulted in further significant elevation of urinary UA in premature infants. Conclusions: With the reference values obtained in the study reported here, urinary UA can now be used for the diagnosis and monitoring of inherited disorders of purine metabolism and for the assessment of oxygen radical insult to sick infants.