Association between colon diverticula and hemoglobin, triglyceride and uric acid levels

Abstract

Colon diverticula cause bleeding and acute diverticulitis. The present study analyzed laboratory test variables, aiming to predict the presence of diverticula. Patient records from between April 2011 and March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively (1,520 patients) and a one-way analysis of variance was performed to analyze the association between the presence of diverticula and each variable. A χ2 test was then used to assess the correlation between the prevalence of diverticula and the percentage of patients with uric acid (UA) levels ≥5.1 mg/dl. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the threshold values required to predict the presence of diverticula. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels were lower in patients with diverticula than in those without diverticula (P=0.0027), and compared with patients without diverticula, UA and triglyceride (TG) levels were higher in patients with diverticula (P=0.0066 and P=0.0136, respectively). The patients were divided into two groups, as follows: Patients with UA levels ≥5.1 mg/dl (the median value) and those with UA levels <5.1 mg/dl. The prevalence of diverticula was significantly higher in patients with UA levels ≥5.1 mg/dl than in those with UA levels <5.1 mg/dl (P=0.0004). ROC analysis demonstrated that the threshold values of Hb, TG and UA were 12,400, 146 and 5.1 mg/dl, respectively. The sensitivity of the Hb and UA levels at the threshold values was 76.5 and 71.0%, respectively. The prevalence of diverticula was associated with low Hb levels, and high TG and UA levels.