Association between serum uric acid and the metabolic syndrome among a middle- and old-age Chinese population

• Published in: European journal of epidemiology 2013-08, Vol.28 (8), p.669-676
• Main Authors: Dai, Xiayun, Yuan, Jing, Yao, Ping, Yang, Binyao, Gui, Lixuan, Zhang, Xiaomin, Guo, Huan, Wang, Youjie, Chen, Weihong, Wei, Sheng, Miao, Xiaoping, Li, Xiulou, Min, Xinwen, Yang, Handong, Fang, Weimin, Liang, Yuan, Hu, Frank B., Wu, Tangchun, He, Meian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alleles; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Cardiology; China - epidemiology; Cholesterols; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Epidemiology; Exercise; Female; General aspects; Genome-Wide Association Study; Genotype; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Logistic Models; Male; Medical genetics; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Men; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Metabolic diseases; Metabolic disorders; METABOLIC SYNDROME; Metabolic Syndrome - blood; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; Metabolic Syndrome - genetics; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Odds Ratio; Oncology; Other metabolic disorders; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Prevalence; Public Health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Purines and pyrimidines (gout, hyperuricemia...); Random allocation; Risk Factors; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Uric acid; Uric Acid - blood
• ISSN: 0393-2990; 1573-7284
• DOI: 10.1007/s10654-013-9829-4

Our aim was to study whether there is causal association between serum uric acid and metabolic syndrome (MetS). A cross-sectional study was performed, including a total of 27,009 subjects (23,345 subjects having uric acid data) from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort study. The MetS was defined by the International Diabetes Foundation criteria of 2005. Association analysis was performed by logistic regression. A genetic risk score was calculated by adding the uric acid increasing alíeles in two SNPs (rs1 1722228 in SLC2A9 and rs2231142 in ABCG2) which were identified from our genome-wide association study on uric acid levels. The causal association was examined by mendelian randomization analysis. Among a middle- and old-age Chinese population, serum uric acid concentrations were strongly associated with the risk of MetS and its several components (P < 0.0001). The effects were stronger in women than in men. Despite the lack of statistical significance, both SNPs exhibited a trend with increased MetS risk (rs1 1722228, OR = 1.06, 95 % CI 0.99-1.14; rs2231142, OR = 1.02, 95 % CI 0.95-1.10), consistent with their increasing uric acid effects. Each additional uric acid increasing allele in the genetic risk score was associated with 3 % increased MetS risk (OR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.98-1.09; P = 0.23). Further adjustment for serum uric acid attenuated the trend of individual SNP and genetic risk score with increased MetS risk (all OR < 1.0). These findings suggested that serum uric acid was associated with MetS risk in a middle- and old-age Chinese population. Whether this association was causal remained to be investigated in the future studies.