Hyperuricemia and impaired metabolic profile in community-dwelling older adults: A Bayesian approach

Serum uric acid (UA) levels have stood out as a candidate for biomarker of several pathological processes, especially from cardiometabolic diseases.

Purpose

This study aimed to compare biomarkers of cardiometabolic dysfunction in community-dwelling older adults with normal and high levels of UA.

Methods

Cross-sectional study including 228 community-dwelling older adults, clinically stratified as with or without hyperuricemia, according the cutoff point of serum uric acid ≥6 mg/dL for women and ≥7 mg/dL for men. Venous blood withdrawal was conducted and used to obtain UA, triglycerides, and glucose levels. Anthropometric measurements were conducted to record height, body mass, and waist circumference. From serum and anthropometric parameters, triglyceride/glucose index (TyG), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and visceral adiposity index (VAI) were calculated. Linear mixed model analysis was used to determine between-group differences in cardiometabolic parameters (VAI, LAP, and TyG), taking groups as fixed factor and sex, use of hypoglycemiant and hypolipemiant medications as random factors. The Bayesian analysis was conducted to check the magnitude of the evidence.

Results

The community-dwelling older adults with high serum UA exhibited statistically higher values (p < 0.05) of TyG (mean difference = 0.24 [95% CI = 0.39 to 0.90]), VAI (mean difference = 0.75 [95% CI = 0.25 to 1.25]) and LAP (mean difference = 15.56 [95% CI = 3.98 to 27.15]). The Bayesian analysis indicated moderate to strong posterior probabilities favoring the alternative hypothesis.

Conclusion

Our results shed light on the relationship between hyperuricemic state in community-dwelling older adults and adipocyte dysfunction, ectopic lipid deposition, and insulin resistance.