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Association of Uric Acid With Vascular Stiffness in the Framingham Heart Study
Tapan Mehta1, Eugene Nuccio2, Kim McFann2
1Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, Aurora, CO, USA; Tapan.mehta@ucdenver.edu.
Insights
High uric acid levels are linked to arterial stiffness in the general population. This study found a significant association between serum uric acid and measures of arterial stiffness like pulse wave velocity.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Elevated uric acid is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and arterial stiffness in specific patient groups.
- The relationship between uric acid and arterial stiffness in the general population remains understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between serum uric acid levels and arterial stiffness in a general population cohort.
- To determine if uric acid is an independent predictor of arterial stiffness.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 4,140 participants from the Generation 3 Framingham cohort.
- Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between serum uric acid and arterial stiffness measures, including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF PWV) and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (CR PWV).
- Adjustments were made for multiple cardiovascular risk factors.
Main Results:
- Higher serum uric acid levels were observed in individuals who were male, had hypertension, higher BMI, elevated glucose and insulin, and lower eGFR.
- Serum uric acid levels were significantly associated with increased CF PWV and CR PWV, even after multivariate adjustment.
- No significant association was found between uric acid levels and augmentation index (AI).
Conclusions:
- Serum uric acid is significantly associated with arterial stiffness, specifically CF PWV and CR PWV.
- These findings suggest a potential role for uric acid in vascular health in a general, younger Caucasian population.
Background:
Uric acid is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and arterial stiffness in patients with hypertension or stroke. It remains unknown if uric acid is associated with arterial stiffness in the general population.
Methods:
We analyzed the association between serum uric acid levels and measures of arterial stiffness such as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF PWV), carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (CR PWV) and augmentation index (AI) in 4,140 participants from the Generation 3 Framingham cohort using linear regression.
Results:
Mean (SD) age was 40.0 (8.8) years and mean (SD) serum uric acid levels were 5.3 (1.5) mg/dl. Mean (SD) CF PWV was 7.0 (1.4) m/s. Individuals in the highest quartile of uric acid were more likely to be male, have a higher prevalence of hypertension, higher BMI, fasting glucose and insulin, and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Multivariate adjusted means of CF PWV were 6.90, 6.94, 7.06, and 7.15 m/s for uric acid quartile 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. In unadjusted analysis each 1mg/dl increase in uric acid was associated with higher CF-PWV (β = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.25, 0.29; P < 0.0001). This was attenuated but remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, hypertension, BMI, fasting glucose, insulin, animal protein intake, and eGFR (β= 0.06; 95% CI = 0.02, 0.09; P < 0.0007). There was no association between serum uric acid levels and AI upon adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors.
Conclusions:
Serum uric acid levels are significantly associated with CF PWV and CR PWV in a younger Caucasian population.