Hyperuricemia and albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

INTRODUCTION. Hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for kidney dysfunction in diabetic patients. On the other hand, albuminuria is considered as the proxy of early stages of diabetic nephropathy. We investigated the correlation between hyperuricemia and albuminuria in patients with diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS. In a cross-sectional study of 1275 patients (555 men and 720 women) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, serum uric acid and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio were determined. Other metabolic parameters including lipid profile, hemoglobin A1c, glomerular filtration rate, body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose were assessed, as well. RESULTS. The mean age of the patients was 52.45 ± 10.11 years old. Serum uric acid levels for normoalbuminuric, microalbuminuric, and macroalbuminuric patients were 4.49 ± 1.22 mg/dL, 4.84 ± 1.52 mg/dL, and 6.15 ± 1.68 mg/dL, respectively. Among patients with clinical metabolic syndrome, 233 (27.5%) were in the forth upper quartile of uric acid level (> 5.3 mg/dL), but in diabetic patients without this syndrome, only 80 (18.7%) were in this group. There was a significant relationship between hyperuricemia and serum triglyceride, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, glomerular filtration rate, and serum creatinine levels (P < .001). No significant correlation was found between hyperuricemia and cholesterol levels, age, duration of diabetes mellitus, and body mass index. Serum uric acid level correlated positively with urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS. We showed that higher serum uric acid concentrations were associated with a greater probability of albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.