Surgical operation has long been considered capable of precipitating acute gouty arthritis (Hench, 1935; Linton and Talbott, 1943) but details of uric acid metabolism in this situation are unknown. This paper describes a study of postoperative uric acid levels in plasma and urine in a number of patients undergoing surgical operation.

Workers at a printing plant exposed to low concentrations of toluene (43-401 mg/m3, median 155 mg/m3) had increased urinary D-glucaric acid (3.55-5.12 mmol/mol creatinine) excretion at the end of the shift compared with controls (2.45-3.35 mmol/mol creatinine). No increase was found after the summer holiday (1.92-2.89 mmol/mol creatinine) but excretion had increased two weeks later (4.05-5.55 m...