A high uric acid level is too much uric acid in the blood. Uric acid is made during the breakdown of purines. Purines are found in certain foods and are formed by the body.

Blood carries uric acid to the kidneys. The kidneys pass most uric acid into the urine, which then leaves the body.

A high uric acid level can be linked to gout or kidney stones. But most people with high uric acid levels don't have symptoms of either of these conditions or related problems.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Dec. 14, 2022