Association between serum uric acid, metabolic syndrome and microalbuminuria in previously untreated essential hypertensive patients

Abstract Background and objective The aim of the study was to assess the association of serum uric acid levels with microalbuminuria —urinary albumin excretion (UAE)≥ 30 mg/24 h—. Patients and method Cross-sectional study in 429 (220 women) hypertensive, non diabetic, never treated patients (mean age: 47 years) with glomerular filtration rate ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 . Results The prevalence of microalbuminuria was 20.5%; 18% had hyperuricemia and 47% fulfilled the criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS). Baseline UAE correlated in the unvaried analysis to diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and uric acid. In multiple linear regression models, only MS (beta=0.113; p =0.03), and serum uric acid values (beta=0.04; p =0.05) were independently associated with logUAE, after adjustment for age and sex. Hyperuricemia (serum uric acid level ≥7.0 mg/dl for men and ≥6.5 mg/dl for women; odds ratio=2.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.21–3.92; p =0.010), and MS (odds ratio=2.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.32–3.53; p =0.002) were independently associated with a higher risk of microalbuminuria in multiple logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of microalbuminuria was 45.8% in patients with coexistent MS and hyperuricemia, as compared to 13.6% in hypertensive patients without it ( p Conclusion Serum uric acid level is associated with microalbuminuria. Coexistence of MS and hyperuricemia in hypertensive patients increases almost 4 times the odds of being microalbuminuric.