Familial hyperuricaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia

Three generations of a family with a strong tendency to hyperuricaemia are described in relation to abnormalities of serum lipid levels. Three of the four surviving siblings of the second generation had hyperuricaemia and pronounced hypertriglyceridaemia. In the third generation only one member had both hyperuricaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia, but two children had raised blood lipids in the absence of a raised serum urate. The lipid abnormality was transmitted only through the female members. The patient with the highest lipid levels had an excessive alcohol consumption; it is suggested that this may play a contributory role in the hyperlipidaemia of gout.