| Abstract [eng] |
Serum uric acid is often elevated in patients with metabolic syndrome. It is also often linked to dyslipidemia. However, it is still not completely clear which lipid parameters stay associated with serum uric acid when the analysis only includes patients who already have metabolic syndrome. For this reason, this study looked at the association between serum uric acid, triglycerides, and high- density lipoprotein cholesterol. The analysis was based on patients with metabolic syndrome from the Lithuanian High Cardiovascular Risk primary prevention program. The data was analyzed cross-sectionally. The analyzed dataset included 708 adults with metabolic syndrome. In the analysis, serum uric acid was the dependent variable. The main lipid parameters were triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. First, descriptive statistics and boxplots were used to look at the data. Then Pearson correlation analysis, Mann–Whitney U tests, and multivariable linear regression were performed. The regression model included age, sex, BMI, diabetes status, and statin use as adjustment variables. The final regression model included 707 participants. Men had significantly higher serum uric acid levels than women. In contrast, patients with and without diabetes did not show a significant difference. In the boxplots, serum uric acid was higher in the higher triglyceride quartiles. It was lower in the higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol quartiles. In the correlation analysis, serum uric acid had a weak positive correlation with triglycerides and body mass index. A negative correlation was seen with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and age. In the regression model, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body mass index, and male sex were still significant. Triglycerides did not remain significant after adjustment. Diabetes status and statin use were also not significant in the model. In this cohort of patients with metabolic syndrome, serum uric acid was most clearly linked to lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The association with triglycerides was present in the first analyses, but it was not present anymore after adjustment. This could be because other factors in the model partly explained the triglyceride result. In this group, serum uric acid looks more like part of the general metabolic risk profile. So based on this analysis, serum uric acid should not be treated as a separate target on its own. The study also cannot answer the question of direction, because it was cross-sectional. It only shows that these factors were related in this patient group. |
