Hypouricemia--a transient biochemical phenomenon of total parenteral nutrition.

A retrospective chart review of total parenteral nutrition identified several patients who developed hypouricemia. In order to study this phenomenon, seven patients were prospectively investigated during courses of total parenteral nutrition with serum and 24-h urine determinations of uric acid. In all seven patients, the serum uric acid level decreased, with the average fall being 3 mg/100 ml, then began to rise again. A uricosuric mechanism may have accounted for the reduced serum levels in one patient. The reduction in the serum uric acid in most patients is more likely related to a lowered rate of uric acid production.