Comparison of benzbromarone and allopurinol on the risk of chronic kidney disease in people with asymptomatic hyperuricemia

Objective The objective of the study was to compare the relative effects of benzbromarone and allopurinol on the risk of developing chronic kidney disease in persons with asymptomatic hyperuricemia. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze a 2003–2015 national database including all claims data of 2 million beneficiaries in Taiwan. Asymptomatic hyperuricemia was defined as follows: persons using urate-lowering drugs who never developed gout flares. The benzbromarone group included persons ages 20–84 that had asymptomatic hyperuricemia and received benzbromarone alone. The allopurinol group included persons ages 20–84 that had asymptomatic hyperuricemia and received allopurinol alone. The maximum follow-up time was set as 5 years in this study. The main outcome was defined as follows: persons were newly diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to test the association between variables and the risk of chronic kidney disease. Results After propensity score matching, 9107 persons in the benzbromarone group and 4554 persons in the allopurinol group were eligible for the study. Approximately 71% of the study subjects were males. The mean age was 56 years old. The incidence rate of chronic kidney disease was lower in the benzbromarone group than in the allopurinol group (1.18 versus 1.99/per 100 person-years, incidence ratio = 0.60, and 95% confidence interval = 0.52–0.68).The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis disclosed that after adjusting for co-variables, there was a decreased risk of developing chronic kidney disease in the benzbromarone group as compared with the allopurinol group (hazard ratio = 0.59, 95% confidence interval = 0.52–0.67 and P<0.001). Conclusions The use of benzbromarone is associated with a lower hazard of developing chronic kidney disease as compared to allopurinol use among persons ages 20–84 with asymptomatic hyperuricemia. More studies are needed to confirm our findings.