Bugs4urate: Prebiotics and microbial therapeutics for personalized treatment of hyperuricemia preventing gout

The Bugs4urate project is focused on understanding how diet, glycans, and the gut microbiome influence urate metabolism. By investigating these factors, we aim to provide scientific evidence for their role in treating hyperuricemia and preventing gout.

The Problem: Limited Treatment Options for Gout

Gout, a chronic noncommunicable disease (NCD), is caused by hyperuricemia — the accumulation of urate in the blood, due to an imbalance in the purine metabolism and/or inadequate renal excretion of the metabolic waste product urate. This imbalance in purine metabolism can result from diet or the body’s own metabolic processes and leads to urate crystallisation, causing painful gouty arthritis. Current treatments, such as strict dietary restrictions and medications like allopurinol and febuxostat, are often ineffective and may cause side effects. New strategies for prevention and targeted treatment of hyperuricemia are urgently needed.

The Bugs4urate Solution

The project proposes an innovative approach to lower serum urate levels and prevent gout by combining personalised nutrition with novel urate-lowering ingredients. This will address the limitations of current treatments through a precision nutrition tool using a combination of probiotics, dietary fibre and advanced responder stratification.