Tea consumption, serum uric acid levels and hyperuricemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the effects of tea drinking on serum uric acid (SUA) and hyperuricemia (HUA). Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between tea drinking and SUA levels and HUA. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases for relevant articles published up to August 2024 that examined the association between tea drinking, SUA levels, and HUA. The types of tea were categorized as green tea and black tea. A random effects model was used to assess the combined effect sizes of the included studies and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Publication bias was assessed using the Egger test. We included 16 studies involving 285,221 participants that investigated the effect of tea drinking on SUA levels and HUA. Seven papers explored the association between tea drinking and SUA levels. The results showed that the highest and lowest tea consumption categories were associated with elevated SUA levels (WMD = 9.76 μmol/L, 95% CI: 2.03, 17.49, P = 0.013). For the prevalence of HUA, 10 studies were included. There was no significant difference in the overall multivariate corrected ratio (OR) between the highest and lowest tea consumption categories (OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.42, P = 0.097). The available data suggest that tea drinking may be associated with elevated SUA levels. However, the current evidence does not demonstrate an association between tea drinking and elevated HUA prevalence. Due to the limited number of studies, further well-designed prospective studies and randomized controlled trials are needed to elaborate on these issues.