J Prev Med Public Health.  2012 May;45(3):181-187. 10.3961/jpmph.2012.45.3.181.

Association Between Serum Uric Acid Level and Metabolic Syndrome

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hckim@yuhs.ac
  • 2Severance Institute for Vascular and Metabolic Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
Serum uric acid levels have been reported to be associated with a variety of cardiovascular conditions. However, the direct association between uric acid levels and metabolic syndrome remains controversial. Thus, we evaluated the association of serum uric acid levels and metabolic syndrome in a community-based cohort study in Korea.
METHODS
We performed cross-sectional analysis of baseline data of 889 males and 1491 females (aged 38 to 87) who participated in baseline examinations of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study: Kanghwa study. Blood samples were collected after at least an 8 hour fast. Uric acid quartiles were defined as follows: <4.8, 4.8-<5.6, 5.6-<6.5, > or =6.5 mg/dL in males; and <3.8, 3.8-<4.3, 4.3-<5.1, > or =5.1 mg/dL in females. Metabolic syndrome was defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Criteria with adjusted waist circumference cutoffs (90 cm for males; 80 cm for females). The association between serum uric acid quartiles and metabolic syndrome was assessed using multivariate logistic regression.
RESULTS
The odds ratio for having metabolic syndrome in the highest versus lowest quartiles of serum uric acid levels was 2.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.60 to 4.46) in males and 2.14 (95% CI, 1.50 to 3.05) in females after adjusting for age, smoking, alcohol intake, body mass index, total cholesterol, HbA1c, albumin, gamma-glutamyltransferase, blood urea nitrogen, and log C-reactive protein. The number of metabolic abnormalities also increased gradually with increasing serum uric acid levels (adjusted p for trend < 0.001 in both sexes).
CONCLUSIONS
Higher serum uric acid levels are positively associated with the presence of metabolic syndrome in Korean males and females.

Keyword

Uric acid; Metabolic syndrome X; Inflammation

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological Markers/blood
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Hyperuricemia/*blood
Inflammation
Logistic Models
Male
Metabolic Syndrome X/*blood
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Prospective Studies
Republic of Korea
Risk Assessment
Rural Health
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