Hyperuricemia is an abnormally high level of
uric acid in the
blood. In the pH conditions of body fluid, uric acid exists largely as urate, the ion form. The amount of urate in the body depends on the
balance between the amount of
purines eaten in food, the amount of urate synthesised within the body (e.g., through
cell turnover), and the amount of urate that is excreted in urine or through the gastrointestinal tract. In humans, the upper end of the normal range is 360 µmol/L (6 mg/dL) for women and 400 µmol/L (6.8 mg/dL) for men.