URIC-ACID AND CORONARY HEART-DISEASE RISK - EVIDENCE FOR A ROLE OF URIC-ACID IN THE OBESITY-INSULIN RESISTANCE SYNDROME

Various epidemiologic studies have linked an increase in serum uric ac id level to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, The reasons f or this finding are unclear, The authors examined the influence of a n umber of cardiovascular disease risk factors on serum uric acid level in 886 middle-aged and older men participating in the Normative Aging Study. The men were examined between 1987 and 1991, In a multivariate regression model predicting serum uric acid level, uric acid was posit ively associated with body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m)(2); beta = 0.041 mg/dl per kg/m(2), p = 0,003), abdomen:hip circumference rati o (beta = 1.88 mg/dl per cm/cm, p = 0.048), log alcohol intake (beta = 0.150 mg/dl per g/week, p = 0.0001), and log postcarbohydrate insulin level (beta = 0.157 mg/dl per log(mu lU/ml), p = 0.005), Serum uric a cid level was negatively associated with age (beta = -0.012 mg/dl per year of age, p = 0.017) and log physical activity (beta = -0.152 mg/dl per kcal/week, p = 0.0001), The data suggest that serum uric acid may be involved in the obesity-insulin resistance syndrome, which in turn may explain the relation of serum uric acid to coronary atheroscleros is.