Objective To explore the effect of yeast and adenine administration in different doses and different duration on the establishment of rat models of gouty nephropathy.Methods Fifty-seven healthy male 2 months old Dawley rats (220-250 g) were used in this study. The rats of model groups were gavaged with 15 g/kg yeast and 50 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg adenine, for different number of days. The kidney hypertrophy index, kidney function, urine indexes, liver xanthine oxidase activity, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) content in the renal cortex, and the renal histology were detected. The pathological changes of renal tissue were examined along with detection of the expression of NGAL, OAT1 and TIMP-1 by immunohistochemical staining.Results The renal pathological changes were more obvious with the increasing yeast and adenine doses and time of modeling. Compared with the normal group, the renal histological changes in the group administered with 100 mg/kg adenine and 15 g/kg yeast for 8 days showed apparent inflammatory cell infiltration and swelling of tubular epithelial cells, but there was not destruction of renal tubules and glomerular structures, showing a significant difference between the model and normal groups (P<0.01). Compared with that of the normal control group, kidney function was significantly decreased in the model groups A, B, E, and F (P<0.01). Compared with the normal control group, the 24 h urine volume and content of urinary protein were significantly increased in the model groups A, B, E, and F (P<0.01), and the expressions of protein OAT1 were significantly reduced in the renal tubules, while expressions of NGA, TIMP-1 were increased in the model group E (P<0.01).Conclusions Administration of adenine at a dose of 100 mg/kg and yeast at 15 g/kg for 8 days is an ideal procedure for the establishment of a rat model of gouty nephropathy. The renal alterations of this rat model of gouty nephropathy are affected by the changes of expressions of NGAL, TIMP-1 and OAT1 protein expressions.