Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) consists of several risk factors including central obesity, elevated blood pressure, hyperglycemia, high triglycerides, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. MetS is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality. Several population-based studies showed an increased risk of CVD in individuals with MetS compared to those who do not have the syndrome. Besides the traditional risk factors, other factors including microalbuminuria, inflammatory markers, and hyperuricemia have been suggested to be involved in the Mets. Along with MetS, obesity has also been found as an important risk factor for CVD. Furthermore, a link has been found between obesity and hyperuricemia in various studies. The prevalence of MetS is increasing at an alarming rate both in developed and developing countries. MetS is highly prevalent among Bangladeshi adults and has increased rapidly in the last few decades. A recent review reported a high prevalence of MetS (30%) in the Bangladeshi population with 32% in females and 25% in males.
AIM: The aim of the study is to Association between Serum Uric Acid Level and Metabolic Syndrome Components.
MATERIAL AND METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of General Medicine. The eligibility criteria consisted of being aged 30–49 years, and having no history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, kidney disease, and gout. Of selected individuals, 3 who had heart failure and kidney disease were not included in the study, and the participants consisted of 30 persons in the MetS group and 30 as controls. Subjects who were taking antihypertensive or antidiabetic agents, lipid-lowering agents, and hypouricemic agents were excluded. Participants were asked to take a vegetable diet in the three days before they received the examination. All participants provided written informed consent before inclusion in the study.
RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding factors, serum uric acid was significantly higher in the MetS group than in the non-MetS group. Subjects in the MetS group had higher BMI, WC, lean body mass (LBM), body fat mass (BFM), trunk fat mass, SBP, DBP, FPG, insulin, HOMA index, TG, TC, LDL, and lower HDL levels than the subjects in the non-MetS group. In this study, the mean serum uric acid was significantly higher in the MetS group than that in the non-MetS group, even after adjustment for age, sex, and BMI. There were increases in ORs after adjustment for age and gender. The result of the regression model showed that in model III (age, sex, and BMI adjusted) for every 1 mg/dl elevation in the serum uric acid level, the odds ratio for developing metabolic syndrome increased approximately 2-fold.
CONCLUSION: Serum uric acid had an independent association with MetS components and increased the risk of MetS by near two folds. Regarding the high prevalence of obesity and MetS as well as the potential link between hyperuricemia and CVD, future studies should be conducted to clarify the role of uric acid in the pathogenesis of Mets and the clinical significance of the current findings. This study shows serum uric acid is markedly associated with metabolic syndrome and its components, in particular serum triglycerides and waist circumference.
KEYWORDS: Uric acid, Metabolic syndrome, Insulin resistance and Body composition