Synergistic Effects of Serum Uric Acid and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors on Early Stage Atherosclerosis: The Cardiometabolic Risk in Chinese Study

OBJECTIVE: To comprehensively examine the associations of serum uric acid (SUA) with central and peripheral arterial stiffness in Chinese adults, and particularly assess the interactions between SUA and other cardiometabolic risk factors. METHODS: The study included 3,772 Chinese men and women with carotid radial pulse wave velocity (crPWV), carotid femoral PWV (cfPWV), carotid artery dorsalis pedis PWV (cdPWV) and SUA measured. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, sex, and BMI, the levels of SUA were significantly associated with increasing trend of cfPWV, crPWV and cdPWV (P for trend <0.0001). Further adjustment for heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and lipids attenuated the associations with crPWV and cdPWV to be non-significant (P = 0.1, P = 0.099 respectively), but the association between SUV and cfPWV remained significant (P = 0.004). We found significant interactions between SUA and HR or BP in relation to cfPWV (P for interaction = 0.03, 0.003 respectively). The associations between SUA and cfPWV were more evident among individuals with higher HR or normal BP than those with lower HR or hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: SUA was associated with elevated aortic arterial stiffness in Chinese adults, independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors. BP and HR might modify the deleterious effects of SUA.