Inheritance and alcohol as factors influencing plasma uric acid levels

Variation in plasma uric acid levels in 206 pairs of male and female twins, aged from 18 to 34 years, was consistent with a simple model including only individual environmental and additive genetic effects and a heritability of h2 = 0.73. Individual environmental variation was estimated to be approximately the same as variation of individuals measured on two occasions. Correlations of DZ pairs were also consistent with sex-linked genetic effects. In men there was a significant genetic correlation with weekly alcohol consumption and as much as 18% of the variation in uric acid levels could be accounted for by genetic variation in alcohol consumption.