“…This is all the more striking in view of the epidemiological evidence implicating elevated levels of serum uric acid in the pathogenic processes leading to coronary atherosclerosis (e.g., Lee, Sparrow, Vokonas, Landsberg, & Weiss, 1995) and coronary heart disease (e.g., Brand, McGee, & Kannel, 1985;Cappuccio, Strazzullo, Farinaro, & Trevisan, 1993;Frohlich, 1993). There are exceptions to the above pattern of results, including studies in which uric acid did not predict coronary artery morbidity or mortality (e.g., Menotti, Spagnolo, Scanga, & Dima, 1992). Elevated levels of serum uric acid carry an increased risk of gouty arthritis or renal stones (Kelly & Palella, 1987) and may be toxic to the central nervous system's activity (Muller et al, 1970).…”