Association of blood uric acid with the duration of diabetes in type 2 diabetics: A pilot study

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is the most common non-communicable disease which is vastly conquering both the developed & developing countries of the world. Hypothesis: serum uric acid plays as an independent risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. Studies revealing the clearance of uric acid reduced with insulin resistance are few in numbers. A positive correlation between uric acid and glucose levels leads to the development of type 2 diabetes. To correlate the levels of blood uric acid with the duration of diabetes in type 2 diabetics. Fifteen type 2 diabetes patients with no history of any complications and other systemic organ & metabolic disorders like gout & obesity randomly selected for this cross-sectional study. A biochemical investigation, like the Uricase method employed for fasting serum uric acid levels estimation. Statistical analysis by the Pearson correlation test used. Positive correlation of serum uric acid with the duration of diabetes in type 2 diabetic patients found to be statistically significant (r = +0.6, p < 0.05). Out of fifteen, eleven of them were suffering from hyperuricemia (73%). Average uric acid level elevated from 6.88 ± 0.95 in people with the duration of diabetes 2 to 6 years to 7.61 ± 3.16 in people with the duration of diabetes 7 to 10 years. The positive association of fasting serum uric acid with the duration of type 2 diabetes suggests that uric acid acts as an independent biochemical marker for prognosis of the type 2 diabetes. Drugs that reduce the uric acid levels may be useful in avoiding the development and prognosis of insulin resistance that causes type 2 diabetes and other complications.