Distinct uric acid trajectories are associated with incident diabetes in an overweight Chinese population

Abstract Aim: To explore uric acid (UA) trajectories in different body mass index (BMI) populations and to determine their associations with incident diabetes. Methods: A total of 4566 adults without diabetes in 2011 were enrolled. All participants underwent a medical examination every year until 2016, and were classified into three subgroups based on BMI: non-obese (BMI Results: Four UA trajectories were identified in the three BMI subgroups: ‘low’ (42.4% in non-obese, 22.1% in overweight, 22.0% in obese); ‘moderate’ (32.5%, 41.1%, 34.8%); ‘moderate-high’ (18.6%, 29.5%, 30.8%); and ‘high’ (6.5%, 7.3%, 12.4%). After a 5-year follow-up, 170 (3.7%) participants had developed diabetes. The prevalence of new-onset diabetes increased progressively with the higher UA trajectories in the BMI groups (P values Conclusion: Higher UA trajectories are significantly associated with an increased risk of incident diabetes, thereby suggesting that monitoring UA trajectories over time may assist in the identification of prediabetes and diabetes, particularly in the overweight population.