Abstract P013: Serum Uric Acid is Not Associated With Incident Dementia in the ARIC-NCS Cohort

Abstract

Background: Recent studies have investigated the involvement of serum uric acid (SUA) in the progression of cognitive decline and dementia with conflicting results. SUA is known to be associated with hypertension, inflammation, and other cardiovascular risk factors, which often contribute to dementia and dementia-like morbidity, yet several cross-sectional studies have suggested that its antioxidant properties may be protective against cognitive decline. Hypothesis: We hypothesized lower levels of serum uric acid at baseline would be associated with an increased risk of incident dementia. Methods: The ARIC study is an ongoing, biracial, community-based cohort study in the US with longitudinal data first collected in 1987. Participants were examined during follow-up throughout 6 visits (last one 2016-17). Serum uric acid measurements were collected through fasting blood samples in 1990-92 (age range 47-70 years), baseline for this analysis. Incident dementia was determined based on examiner assessments at visits 5 (2011-13) and 6 (2016-17), dementia surveillance based on dementia screeners conducted over telephone interviews starting from visit 5, hospitalization discharge codes, and death certificates prior to visit 6. We estimated the association of SUA, categorized into quartiles, with incidence of dementia by calculating hazard ratios (HR) using Cox regression models adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Our analysis included 11,452 participants free of dementia, prevalent coronary heart disease, or stroke, and with available SUA followed for a median of 24.1 years. Baseline SUA in the highest quartile was associated with incident dementia [HR (95% CI): 1.22 (1.07, 1.38)] when adjusted for age, race, gender, and education level. However, after full adjustment including cardiovascular risk factors, this relationship disappeared (Table). Conclusion: Within a large community-based cohort, we found no evidence of SUA’s influence on incident dementia independent of cardiovascular risk factors.