Uric Acid and Neuroprotection

To the Editor:Having arguably originated both sides and after long-equivocation over whether urate is physiologically primarily pro- or antioxidant, we finally declared in favor of a neuroprotective role in acute ischemic stroke.1 But, as Dawson et al2 note, this leaves unanswered the role of xanthine oxidase and the putative pro-oxidant role of urate in atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, and so forth.3–6 Perhaps treatment will ultimately involve both allopurinol and urate.Besides the work of Chamorro and others, our support for an acute neuroprotective role is based on new …