Check this out, guys:

Excerpt from "Gout, Goutiness and their Treatment" by William Ewart, published in 1896.

It appears that a connection between serum alkalinity and gout was fairly well-known in the late 19th century.

The section on piperazine is particularly interesting as well. It may be worth looking into.

Sometimes I think doctors "forget" old treatments that worked well as they constantly try to come up with new solutions to old problems.