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Intel Lab Diagnostics Dubai
Single Biomarker

Uric Acid

Gout & Kidney Marker

Uric acid is a waste product from purine metabolism. Elevated levels can cause gout (painful joint inflammation) and kidney stones, and are associated with cardiovascular risk. No fasting typically required.

BLOOD24 HOURSNO FASTING
AEDAED120
  • Free home collection
  • Physician-reviewed report

24 Hours

Turnaround

Blood

Sample

About This Test

What the Uric Acid test tells you

Uric acid is the final product of purine breakdown. Purines are building blocks of DNA and RNA, so they arrive from two directions: the ordinary turnover of your own cells, and food, where organ meats, some seafood, beer and spirits contribute the most. The liver converts purines into uric acid, the kidneys clear most of it and the gut handles the remainder. The level measured in your blood is simply the balance between how much is being produced and how much is being removed.

When that balance tips, uric acid can come out of solution and form crystals. In a joint those crystals provoke the sudden, intense inflammation of gout, classically at the base of the big toe but by no means only there. In the urinary tract they can form stones. Over years they may also settle quietly in soft tissue as firm deposits called tophi. Importantly, many people carry a raised level for a lifetime and never develop any of this: a high result on its own, without symptoms, is common and is not in itself a disease. The reverse also happens: during an acute attack the blood level can look entirely unremarkable, because urate is being deposited in the joint rather than circulating, so a reassuring result does not exclude gout.

Beyond gout, raised uric acid keeps company with insulin resistance, high blood pressure, excess weight and chronic kidney disease, and it is watched closely in people starting chemotherapy, where rapid destruction of cancer cells releases a flood of purines. Because so many factors move the level (kidney function, diuretics, low-dose aspirin, alcohol, fasting and rapid weight loss among them), your doctor reads it alongside kidney tests and the clinical picture rather than treating the result in isolation.

Sample type
Blood
Turnaround
24 Hours
Fasting
Not required
Best for
Adults & teens
Why Get Tested?

Testing is recommended for joint pain suggestive of gout, kidney stone evaluation, monitoring during cancer chemotherapy (tumour lysis risk), and cardiovascular risk assessment.

  • Investigating acute joint pain

    A sudden, severely painful and swollen joint raises the question of gout, and uric acid is usually the first blood test in that assessment.

  • Assessing kidney stone risk

    Urate crystals can form stones, so the level is checked in people with recurrent stones and used to guide prevention.

  • Monitoring urate-lowering therapy

    Once treatment for gout begins, repeat measurement is how response is judged and doses are adjusted over time.

  • Watching for tumour lysis

    Rapid cell breakdown during chemotherapy releases purines, and uric acid is monitored closely to protect the kidneys.

When This Test Is Ordered

Reasons your doctor may request the Uric Acid test

Your doctor may order this test for any of the reasons below. Some are routine checks, others follow specific symptoms or an earlier result.

  • Sudden joint pain & stones

    • Sudden severe pain, swelling and redness in a single joint.
    • Recurrent kidney stones, or a stone previously shown to contain urate.
    • Unexplained joint pain in someone with chronic kidney disease.

  • Gout treatment & chemotherapy

    • Established gout requiring monitoring of urate-lowering treatment.
    • Before and during chemotherapy where rapid cell turnover is expected.

  • Kidney & metabolic risk assessment

    • Assessment alongside kidney function, blood pressure and metabolic risk factors.
Preparation
The short version
No prep needed.
  • Blood
  • Free home collection
  • No fasting
  • Results in 24 Hours
  1. 1
    Book any time

    No fasting window: pick any slot that suits you, online or on WhatsApp.

  2. 2
    We come to you

    A DHA-licensed nurse collects your sample at home or in the office: free home collection.

  3. 3
    Results in 24 Hours

    A physician-reviewed, easy-to-read report lands securely by WhatsApp and email.

Prep note
Physician reviewed

No fasting is required, though it is best not to attend after an unusually long unplanned fast or during a crash diet, because going without food raises uric acid.

Avoid alcohol, and unusually large amounts of red meat, organ meat or seafood, for a day or two before the sample. Avoid strenuous exercise the day before, as heavy muscle work raises the level.

Drink water as you normally would. Tell your doctor about diuretics, low-dose aspirin, urate-lowering medication and any recent chemotherapy, and mention if you are currently in the middle of a gout attack, because the level can behave unexpectedly at that time.

Reading a High or Low Result

  • What a higher result can point to

    • Reduced excretion by the kidneys, including chronic kidney disease.
    • Medications such as thiazide and loop diuretics, low-dose aspirin and ciclosporin.
    • Regular alcohol intake, and diets rich in organ meat, certain seafood or fructose-sweetened drinks.
    • Rapid cell turnover from chemotherapy, blood disorders, psoriasis or severe tissue injury.
    • Insulin resistance, excess weight and high blood pressure.
    • Inherited differences in the kidney transporters that handle urate.

  • What a lower result can point to

    • Urate-lowering medication working as intended.
    • Renal tubular disorders such as Fanconi syndrome, in which urate is lost in the urine.
    • Advanced liver disease, which reduces production.
    • Some medications, including high-dose aspirin and certain lipid-lowering drugs.
    • A persistently low purine or low protein intake.

These are possibilities, not diagnoses. A single value outside the reference range is interpreted alongside your symptoms, history and other tests: your doctor decides what it means for you.

Limitations & Safety

What this test cannot tell you

  • A raised level does not diagnose gout, and many people with raised urate never develop symptoms.
  • The level can be unremarkable during an acute attack, so a normal result does not exclude gout.
  • Definitive diagnosis of gout rests on identifying crystals in joint fluid, not on a blood test.
  • Diuretics, alcohol, fasting and rapid weight loss shift the result independently of any underlying disorder.

Risks of the blood draw

  • Mild bruising or brief soreness where the needle went in.
  • Occasional lightheadedness, which settles after a few minutes of rest.
  • Bleeding or infection at the site, which is rare with sterile single-use equipment.
Key Points
  • 1Uric acid is the end-product of purine metabolism, cleared mainly by the kidneys.
  • 2Raised levels can lead to gout, urate kidney stones and tophi, but often cause nothing at all.
  • 3A raised result without symptoms is common and is not a disease in itself.
  • 4A normal result during an acute attack does not rule gout out.
  • 5Kidney function, diuretics, alcohol and rapid weight loss all move the level.
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Frequently Asked Questions

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Yes. During an acute attack urate is being deposited in the joint rather than circulating, so the blood level can look unremarkable. Assessment rests on the clinical picture and, where needed, on examining fluid drawn from the joint.