Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a systemic metabolic disease primarily due to aberrant purine metabolism, characterized by abnormally elevated serum uric acid levels (Zhou et al., 2024; Yu, Liu, et al., 2025). The global prevalence of hyperuricemia has surged in conjunction with economic expansion and evolving lifestyle habits in the contemporary era (Liu et al., 2023). Currently, HUA ranks as the second most common metabolic disease (Zhao et al., 2022), surpassed only by diabetes mellitus, and is closely linked to a range of comorbidities, including gout, obesity (Panlu et al., 2024), chronic kidney disease, diabetes (Li et al., 2024), hypertension (Ubhadiya et al., 2023), hyperlipidemia (Zhang et al., 2021), and other cardiovascular disorders. As a major global public health issue, HUA poses a substantial threat to human health and well-being.

At present, the clinical management of HUA primarily includes dietary control and pharmacological intervention. In terms of diet, it involves reducing consumption of purine-rich foods, such as beer, seafood, meat (Chen et al., 2023), mushrooms (Yuan et al., 2024), and high-fructose foods (Feng et al., 2022). However, long-established dietary patterns are often difficult to modify, and these dietary restrictions disrupt the equilibrium between high nutritional value and low-purine intake (Zhang et al., 2019). Pharmacotherapy mainly includes xanthine oxidase inhibitors (e.g., allopurinol and febuxostat), which reduce uric acid production, and the uric acid excretion promoter (e.g., benzbromarone) that enhances uric acid excretion, thereby lowering serum uric acid levels. While effective, they often come with high costs and serious toxic side effects. For instance, allopurinol may induce severe and even life-threatening adverse hypersensitivity reactions and nephrotoxicity (Brucato et al., 2020), while febuxostat can cause serious liver injury and raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases (White et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2020). Benzbromarone poses potential liver damage risks (Liang et al., 2024). Considering these challenges, it is particularly urgent to explore novel, cost-effective, and safe alternative or adjunctive therapies with minimal side effects.

Probiotics refer to active microbes that can provide a beneficial health effect on the host when consumed in sufficient doses (Hill et al., 2014) and have been proven not only to alleviate gastrointestinal disorders and regulate intestinal microbiota balance but also to enhance immune function, and exhibit significant effects in mitigating inflammatory responses and oxidative stress (Vera-Santander et al., 2023; Zucko et al., 2020).

For the past few years, studies have found that certain probiotic strains can reduce uric acid production by degrading purine nucleosides in food, thereby having a positive influence on HUA. For instance, Liao et al. (2024) screened L. plantarum L123 and L. lactis L126 from fermented tea, which were capable of degrading inosine and guanosine, with degradation rates of 100 %, 96.88 ± 0.33 % for L. plantarum L123 and 93.61 ± 1.06 %, 81.15 ± 1.83 % for L. lactis L126, respectively, and are promising candidate probiotics for the amelioration of HUA. The aforementioned studies collectively demonstrate that the degradation of inosine and guanosine represents an effective strategy for controlling HUA. Nevertheless, to date, only a limited number of probiotic strains with the potential to alleviate HUA have been reported. Therefore, the screening of such probiotic strains remains a current research priority.

Kimchi, a traditional fermented vegetable product, is rich in diverse probiotics, particularly LAB. These strains produce bioactive components during the fermentation process (Yuan et al., 2024). Such components contribute to enhancing the flavor and sensory quality of food products while conferring potential probiotic functions (Jeong et al., 2013). Therefore, kimchi might be a good source of probiotic bacteria able to degrade purine nucleosides.

Fermented foods serve as significant carriers of probiotics and bioactive components. Among them, fermented dairy products have attracted the most research interest due to their high nutritional value and represent the most extensively studied probiotic food source (Ruiz-Moyano et al., 2019). Currently, yogurt is recognized as the dairy product with the most demonstrated health-promoting properties (Tamés et al., 2023). This study aimed to screen LAB strains from kimchi that can efficiently degrade inosine and guanosine. Through in vitro experiments, their potential in alleviating HUA was evaluated. Furthermore, the selected strains were applied as auxiliary fermentation agents in yogurt. Its application potential in yogurt was evaluated by the determination of pH, water-holding capacity (WHC), texture profile, rheological characteristics, and particle size. The findings are expected to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of HUA, as well as theoretical support and microbial resources for the development of functional foods.