Markers of systemic inflammation in children with hyperuricemia

AIM: The purpose of the study was to investigate serum concentrations of the monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) in children with hyperuricemia and to evaluate its association with obesity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved 52 hyperuricemic patients with mean age of 15.53 ± 1.7 years. Twenty-seven healthy individuals with normal serum uric acid (SUA) level were selected as the control group (C). Serum MCP-1 and hs-CRP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunonephelometry, respectively. RESULTS: Hyperuricemic patients showed increased sMCP-1 (median: 69.58 pg/mL) and hs-CRP (median: 0.53 mg/L) vs. controls (48.39 pg/mL, 0.24 mg/L; respectively) (p < 0.01). The obese children also presented significantly higher levels of sMCP-1 and hs-CRP (median, 81.69 and 1.18 mg/L, respectively) in comparison with nonobese (median, 59.62 and 0.41 mg/L, respectively; p < 0.01). Only hs-CRP correlated positively with body mass index Z-score (r = 0.33, p < 0.05). Receiver operator characteristic analyses checking the sensitivity and specificity of examined markers for hyperuricemia revealed the higher area under the curve (AUC) for sMCP-1; however, the difference between AUC for sMCP-1 and for hs-CRP was not significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Serum MCP-1 and hs-CRP are elevated in hyperuricemic patients, but the role of obesity in inflammation markers needs further investigation.