Association of serum uric acid levels with glycated haemoglobin in diabetic patients and healthy controls

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Uric acid is formed from purine degradation. Hyperuricemia has emerged as a risk factor for various metabolic diseases including Diabetes mellitus (DM). Uric acid may act as a glucometabolic indicator for Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is an indicator of long-term glycaemic control used for diagnosing and monitoring T2DM. However, the association between HbA1c and uric acid is controversial. The present study aimed to study the association of serum uric acid (SUA) levels with HbA1c. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Northern India after permission from the institutional Ethical committee. The study included patients attending the Outpatient Department of the hospital during the study period. Diagnosed cases of DM as per World Health Organization criteria were included as cases. Controls comprised of apparently healthy subjects of the age group 18–50 years attending OPD Patients and Health Care workers. Both cases and control were divided into two groups those with normal uric acid levels and the hyperuricemia group in both males and females to study the association between HbA1c and uric acid levels. Results: The study constituted 1460 participants of which 880 control and 580 DM. The overall prevalence of hyperuricemia was 17.8%. HUA prevalence was 17.04%–18.9% in the control and diabetic population, respectively. SUA levels in T2DM patients were negatively correlated with glycated HbA1c, and FBS whereas positively correlated with glycated HbA1c in controls. Conclusion: While non-diabetic individuals tend to exhibit higher SUA levels, a decreasing trend has been observed in diabetic individuals. A negative association was observed between SUA level and HbA1c in DM in contrast to controls. Therefore, the utilization of SUA as a marker for assessing glucose metabolism should be approached with careful consideration taking care of these complex dynamics.