Associations between Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Serum Uric Acid and Their Sex Differences: The Nagahama Study

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is often accompanied by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including gout. However, the association between serum uric acid (sUA) levels and NCDs is complicated in patients with SDB. We aimed to clarify this issue utilizing large-scale epidemiological data. This community-based study included 9850 inhabitants. SDB and its severity were assessed by a 3% oxygen desaturation index (3% ODI) corrected for sleep duration using wrist actigraphy. The associations between sUA and moderate to severe SDB (MS-SDB) and sUA and NCDs in patients with MS-SDB were analyzed. A total of 7895 subjects were eligible. In females, the prevalence of MS-SDB increased according to an elevation in sUA levels even after adjusting for confounders, and sUA ≥ 5 mg/dL was the threshold. These were not found in males. There was a positive interaction between sUA ≥ 5 mg/dL and female sex for MS-SDB. In females with MS-SDB, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) increased according to an elevation in sUA levels, and those with sUA ≥ 5 mg/dL showed a higher prevalence of DM than their counterparts. There is a clear correlation between sUA levels and the severity of SDB, and elevated sUA poses a risk for DM in females with MS-SDB.