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Comment
. 2016 Nov;8(11):E1462-E1466.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2016.11.39.

Serum uric acid levels and cardiovascular disease: the Gordian knot

Efrén Martínez-Quintana  1 , Antonio Tugores  2 , Fayna Rodríguez-González  3
Affiliations
Comment

Serum uric acid levels and cardiovascular disease: the Gordian knot

Efrén Martínez-Quintana et al. J Thorac Dis. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Hyperuricemia is defined as serum uric acid level of more than 7 mg/dL and blood levels of uric acid are causally associated with gout, as implicated by evidence from randomized clinical trials using urate lowering therapies. Uric acid as a cardiovascular risk factor often accompanies metabolic syndrome, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, chronic renal disease, and obesity. Despite the association of hyperuricemia with cardiovascular risk factors, it has remained controversial as to whether uric acid is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. To settle this issue, and in the absence of large randomized controlled trials, Mendelian randomization analysis in which the exposure is defined based on the presence or absence of a specific allele that influences a risk factor of interest have tried to shed light on this.

Keywords: Hyperuricemia; cardiovascular risk factors; coronary artery disease; mendelian randomization.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Comment on

  • Causal Assessment of Serum Urate Levels in Cardiometabolic Diseases Through a Mendelian Randomization Study.
    Keenan T, Zhao W, Rasheed A, Ho WK, Malik R, Felix JF, Young R, Shah N, Samuel M, Sheikh N, Mucksavage ML, Shah O, Li J, Morley M, Laser A, Mallick NH, Zaman KS, Ishaq M, Rasheed SZ, Memon FU, Ahmed F, Hanif B, Lakhani MS, Fahim M, Ishaq M, Shardha NK, Ahmed N, Mahmood K, Iqbal W, Akhtar S, Raheel R, O'Donnell CJ, Hengstenberg C, März W, Kathiresan S, Samani N, Goel A, Hopewell JC, Chambers J, Cheng YC, Sharma P, Yang Q, Rosand J, Boncoraglio GB, Kazmi SU, Hakonarson H, Köttgen A, Kalogeropoulos A, Frossard P, Kamal A, Dichgans M, Cappola T, Reilly MP, Danesh J, Rader DJ, Voight BF, Saleheen D. Keenan T, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016 Feb 2;67(4):407-416. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.10.086. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016. PMID: 26821629 Free PMC article.

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