Fig. 2. Febuxostat is more potent than allopurinol at inhibiting XO free in solution.
(A) Xanthine oxidase (2 mU/ml, 5 mM KPi, pH 7.4) was exposed to various concentrations of either allopurinol or febuxostat and assessed for formation uric acid (λ = 295 nm) upon the addition of xanthine (50 μM). Shown are the initial reaction rates (V0) plotted as % control (no inhibitor). IC50 values were calculated as the ordinate value of 50% inhibition (allopurinol = 2.9 μM and febuxostat = 1.8 nM). (B) Same as A except O2 •- formation was detected by the reduction of cytochrome c (λ = 550) and IC50 values were 3.9 μM for allopurinol and 0.9 nM for febuxostat.