Allopurinol what is alopurinol teateated for?

Answer 1

Allopurinol is a purine antagonist. It stops the enzyme "xanthine oxidase", a chemical in the body that breaks down other compounds called purines, from making uric acid.

It is approve by the American FDA for the treatment of Gout, a disorder in which uric acid crystals deposit into the joints- usually the elbow or the distal joint of the great toe or "big toe". These crystals are very irritating to the joints and cause it to become painful and inflamed or swollen.

It has also been used "off-label" for the treatment of "tumor lysis syndrome" in which the purines mentioned above are released into the body in very large quantities as a result of rapid tumor cell destruction.