Relationship between uric acid, hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia in general population

Abstract

Introduction: There is controversial information on the relationship between uric acid and several components of the metabolic syndrome. Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed results of serum uric acid, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and triglyceride tests performed on the whole cohort of outpatient adults consecutively referred to our laboratory for routine blood testing in the previous two years. Results: Subjects with both FPG and triglyceride values exceeding the ATP III criteria thresholds were more likely to be male and had a marked increase in serum uric add levels (355 μmol/L, 95% CI = 208-555 μmol/L versus 304 μmol/L, 95% CI = 172-494 μmol/L; P <0.001). Nearly identical results were found after stratifying the study population between males and females and after adjustment for age. The study subjects with hyperuricemia (serum uric acid ≥ 506 μmol/ L for males and ≥ 416 μmol/L for females) also had a significantly higher prevalence of abnormal values of both FPG and triglycerides (32% versus 11%; P <0.001) as compared to subjects with normal serum uric acid values. In multivariable linear regression analysis, FPG and triglycerides were independently associated with serum uric acid levels after adjustment for age and gender. Conclusion: The mutual biological interrelationship observed between serum uric acid, hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia raises the possibility of a potential pathogenetic overlap between these conditions.