Association between serum uric acid levels and dyslipidemia in Chinese adults: A cross-sectional study and further meta-analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association of serum uric acid (SUA) levels with dyslipidemia and its components and to further explore the age- and gender-specific association of SUA levels with dyslipidemia in Chinese adults.A cross-sectional study was performed among 8642 adults who underwent health examinations. A meta-analysis covering 17 studies was conducted to confirm the results.The prevalence of hyperuricemia and dyslipidemia was 9.25% and 20.44%, respectively. Participants with hyperuricemia had higher prevalence of dyslipidemia than those without hyperuricemia (34.42% vs 19.01%, P < .005). Compared with participants with SUA in the first quintile, the odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval) of dyslipidemia in the second, third, fourth, and fifth quintiles of SUA were 1.095 (0.901-1.332), 1.582 (1.315-1.904), 2.095 (1.752-2.505), and 3.212 (2.702-3.818), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that SUA quintiles were significantly correlated with the likelihood of dyslipidemia in females aged > 50 years and in males, but not in females aged ≤50 years. The meta-analysis also showed that hyperuricemia increased the likelihood of dyslipidemia and the pooled OR for the highest uric acid level vs the lowest uric acid level was 1.84 (1.49-2.28).SUA levels are significantly associated with dyslipidemia, and this association is impacted by age and gender.

Figure 1

Prevalence of dyslipidemia and its classification according to quintiles of serum uric acid levels. The participants were classified into quintiles according to their serum uric acid levels. For males: quintile 1 (Q1) < 278 μmol/L, 278 ≤ Q2 < 315 μmol/L, 315 ≤ Q3 < 347 μmol/L, 347 ≤ Q4 < 391 μmol/L, and Q5 ≥ 391 μmol/L; for females: Q1 < 200 μmol/L, 200 ≤ Q2 < 228 μmol/L, 228 ≤ Q3 < 256 μmol/L, 256 ≤ Q4 < 294 μmol/L, and Q5 ≥ 294 μmol/L. High TG = hypertriglyceridemia, High TC = hypercholesterolemia, Low HDLC = low high-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia, Mix = two or more combinations of hyperlipidemia. P-values for positive association between SUA levels and dyslipidemia and its classification are less than .001.

Figure 2

Meta-analysis of the association between serum uric acids and dyslipidemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-cholesterolemia. (A) The association between serum uric acids and dyslipidemia; (B) the association between serum uric acids and hypertriglyceridemia; (C) the association between serum uric acids and low HDL-cholesterolemia. low HDL-cholesterolemia = low high-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia.