Uric Acid as a Novel Component of Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Objective: Uric continues to be explored as a novel risk factor for Metabolic Syndrome. The purpose of our study was to identify risk factors that are associated with hyperuricemia and to better understand if uric acid might serve as a useful component of metabolic syndrome. Methods: A cross-sectional data analysis was conducted using the 2013-2018 NHANES datasets. Sample weights were assigned by NHANES researchers to each participant allowing researchers to generalize results to all non-institutionalized US civilians. The analysis included 6,432 individuals, which were representative of 94,729,059 US citizens. Results: We demonstrated that the risk factors that had a statistically significant relationship with UA value were fasting glucose, triglycerides, systolic BP, and waist circumference. Fasting blood glucose had an inverse relationship with UA level, indicating that for every 1-point increase in fasting blood glucose, uric acid level decreased slightly. The most adjusted model reports HDL also demonstrated an inverse relationship with UA but this relationship was attenuated after controlling for potential confounders. Triglyceride level, systolic BP, and WC had direct relationships with UA level, indicating that as each risk factor increased, UA level also increased. Waist circumference had the greatest clinical significance for UA level. Conclusions: The findings from our study suggest that metabolic syndrome risk factors do have a relationship with UA level, both in the total population and in those with metabolic syndrome. We found general trends that indicated that fasting blood glucose and HDL had negative relationships with UA level, whereas triglycerides, systolic BP, and waist circumference have positive relationships with UA. Diastolic BP did not demonstrate a relationship with UA level, and the relationship between HDL and UA was attenuated after adjustment for confounding variables. The findings suggest a need to further explore UA as a novel risk factor for metabolic syndrome.