A study of serum uric acid level in essential hypertension

Abstract

Raised serum uric acid has been reported to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and is commonly encountered with essential hypertension, including untreated hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus, which are in turn associated with coronary heart disease. A case control study was conducted at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital/Medical College, Amritsar. A total of 400 patients were studied of which 200 patients were cases that were categorized into Stage 1 or Stage 2 hypertension (based on JNC VII classification) and 200 were controls who were patients without hypertension (HTN) or any other condition known to cause raised serum uric acid levels. It was observed that the value of mean SUA (serum uric acid) was 5.8 mg% significantly more in cases than that was in control group 4.4mg%. This value rises with the duration & the severity of HTN. It is evident by mean values of SUA, in the form of 5.3mg% & 6.3mg% respectively in cases of stage-1 & stage-2 HTN and 4.9mg% & 6.9mg% in <5years & >5 years of HTN. Conclusion: SUA can be used as an biochemical marker to determine the severity and duration of hypertension.