Hyperuricemia and risk of increased arterial stiffness in healthy women based on health screening in Korean population

Hyperuricemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is associated with increased arterial stiffness in high-risk populations. However, given the possible sex-related differences in the prevalence of hyperuricemia, the association between elevated serum uric acid (SUA) level and increased arterial stiffness has yielded conflicting results. We investigated the relationship between SUA and arterial stiffness in asymptomatic healthy subjects who underwent a health examination. Subjects who underwent a comprehensive health examination were enrolled. After exclusion of extensive confounding factors, 2,704 healthy subjects with coronary calcium score < 100 were evaluated in the final analysis. All subjects underwent brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) to detect arterial stiffness. The SUA was divided into quartiles for its association with arterial stiffness and was analyzed separately for men and women. The mean SUA level was significantly lower in women than in men. The baPWV was significantly elevated in subjects with the highest quartile of SUA in women, but not in men. After adjusting for age, smoking, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, fasting plasma glucose, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and coronary artery calcium score, the highest quartile of SUA in women was significantly associated with increased risk of high baPWV compared with the lowest quartile of SUA (OR = 1.7, p = 0.018), whereas in men, SUA level was not associated with high baPWV. Our study showed that elevated SUA is independently associated with increased baPWV in healthy Korean women, but not in men.