Hyperuricemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular risk?

Abstract

Background: Uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism in humans degraded by the hepatic enzyme, urate oxidase (uricase), to allantoin, which is freely excreted in the urine. However, during the Miocene epoch (20 to 5 million years ago), 2 parallel but distinct mutations occurred in early hominoids that rendered the uricase gene non-functional. Uric acid (UA) is a known endogenous scavenger, which provides a major part of the antioxidant capacity against oxidative and radical injury.Methods: The present study was conducted over a period of one year on outpatients attending the General Medicine Department at Narayana General Hospital, Nellore. The study was included 998 subjects (500 male and 498 female) and authors excluded other complications. Data were analyzed by SPSS software.Results: Serum uric acid of the subjects were measured. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for all the Biochemical parameter. The significance between the groups was determined using Student t-test for equality of means. The two-tailed P value is less than 0.0001, which is statistically significant. Confidence interval: the hypothetical mean is 1.0000 and the actual mean is 6.4600. The difference between these two values is 5.4600. The 95% confidence interval of this difference from 5.3489 to 5.5711. Intermediate values used in calculations; t = 96.4583, df = 999 and standard error of difference p = 0.057.Conclusions: About 53% of the subjects of the study are hyperuricemia, with about 74% of these subjects (or about 39% of the total) diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes mellitus or both, indicating a high CVD risk.