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. 2013 Apr 24;8(4):e61450.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061450. Print 2013.

Hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for new onset micro-albuminuria in a middle-aged and elderly population: a prospective cohort study in taiwan

Hung-Yu Chang  1 , Pei-Hsien Lee, Chen-Chou Lei, Chun-Wu Tung, Yung-Chien Hsu, Tung-Jung Huang, Long-Chuan Lu, Chun-Liang Lin
Affiliations

Hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for new onset micro-albuminuria in a middle-aged and elderly population: a prospective cohort study in taiwan

Hung-Yu Chang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Hyperuricemia is now regarded as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Micro-albuminuria is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. We hypothesized that elevated serum uric acid (UA) is associated with development of micro-albuminuria in the general population.

Methodology/principal findings: We conducted a community-based prospective cohort study. A total of 1862 subjects from southern Taiwan, all older than 40 years, were screened and 993 of these participants without micro-albuminuria were followed for 4 years. Urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio was measured two times per year. A multiple linear regression model indicated that serum UA was independently associated with ln(ACR) after adjustment for 8 factors (age, sex, and 6 metabolic metrics) (β = 0.194, p<0.01). Logistic regression analysis indicated that each 1 mg/dL increase of UA was associated with a 1.42-fold increased risk of micro-albuminuria after adjustment for the same 8 factors (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.27-1.59, p<0.01). A Cox regression model using subjects with serum UA less than 5 mg/dL as reference group indicated higher hazard ratios (HRs) only found in subjects with serum UA more than 7 mg/dL (HR = 3.54, 95% CI: 2.11-5.93, p<0.01) and not in subjects with serum UA of 5 to 7 mg/dL (HR = 1.30, 95% CI: 0.82-2.07, p = 0.15).

Conclusion: Hyperuricemia is significantly associated with micro-albuminuria in middle-aged and elderly males and females from a general population in Taiwan. Elevated serum UA is an independent predictor for development of micro-albuminuria in this population.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Overall and Sex-specific person year incidence rate of new-onset micro-albuminuria in three serum uric acid tertiles (5 mg/dL or less, 5–7 mg/dL, more than 7 mg/dL) during the four years of follow-up.
Conversion factor for uric acid in mg/dL to mol/L, ×59.48.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for development of micro-albuminuria in patients with different levels of serum uric acid (5 mg/dL or less, 5–7 mg/dL, more than 7 mg/dL).
Conversion factor for uric acid in mg/dL to mol/L, ×59.48.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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