Correlation of serum uric acid levels with traditional risk factors and cardiovascular disease in the area of Blida (Algeria)

Abstract

To investigate the relationship of Serum Uric Acid (SUA) levels with the traditional risk factors and fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the area of Blida (Algeria). We prospectively enrolled 1954 hypertensive patients: 912 men (57.4 ± 8.5 years old) and 1042 women (56.3 ± 8.7 years old) consulting for evaluation in our hypertension clinic. In all subjects; routine blood chemistry, including SUA determination, echocardiographic examination, office and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring were obtained along with data regarding lifestyle habits. The risk of fatal cardiovascular disease was evaluated by using the SCORE risk chart for countries with low CVD risk based on the following risk factors: age, sex, smoking, systolic BP and total cholesterol. Spearman analysis showed that the SUA levels were significantly and positively associated with the average 24 hours systolic BP levels (RS = 0.088, P < 0.02 for SBP) but not with diastolic BP levels (RS = 0.051, P > 0.05). Furthermore, the Kruskal Wallis analysis revealed that SUA levels were significantly associated with fatal CVD risk ( P < 0.01). Specifically, patients with SCORE risk < 1%, between 1–5%, risk > 5% had SUA levels of 5.3 ± 1.1 mg/dl, 5.9 ± 1.3 mg/dl and 6.7 ± 1.7 mg/dl respectively (Z:- 6.9 P< 0.001). SUA levels were significantly associated with almost all major risk factors. Specifically SUA levels were significantly higher in males (Mann-Whitney U = 17384.70, P < 0.01), in elder patients (RS = 0.12, P < 0.01), in patients with increased body mass index (RS = 0.381, P < 0.01), with diabetes (U = 17745.70, P < 0.05) and with increased systolic BP levels (RS = 0.087, P < 0.04). In contrast, smoking status was not related with SUA levels ( P = NS). Regarding lipoproteins, only serum HDL levels were significantly associated with SUA levels (RS= – 0.327, P < 0.01) but not total cholesterol and LDL plasma levels (NS). Subjects with lower SUA levels presented lower BP levels as well as SCORE risk for fatal cardiovascular disease. SUA levels were significantly associated with SBP levels. The relative importance of these associations has made it possible to specify the possible role of uric acid in the cardiovascular continuum.