Serum uric acid levels and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke: Insights from a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Observational studies have indicated a potential association between serum uric acid levels and the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage. To explore whether this relationship is causal, the authors performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis.

The authors sourced data on single-nucleotide polymorphisms related to serum uric acid levels from the European Bioinformatics Institute ‒ Association database, along with information on intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage from the same repository. The primary analysis for the Mendelian Randomization was conducted using the inverse variance weighted method, accompanied by sensitivity analyses to validate the findings. The Mendelian Randomization analysis revealed a positive causal association between serum uric acid and the risk of ICH Odds Ratio (OR = 1.29; 95 % CI 1.07-1.54, p = 0.007) and SAH (OR = 1.27; 95 % CI 1.04-1.54, p = 0.018).

The present research offers direct evidence suggesting that higher serum uric acid levels could raise the risk of Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH). Additional investigations are needed to explore the mechanisms by which serum uric acid influences these types of hemorrhagic events.