Uric acid to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio predicts cardiovascular mortality in patients on peritoneal dialysis

Background and aims: Serum uric acid (UA) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) disorders are both considered as risk factors of cardiovascular mortality. The predictive value of UA to HDL-C ratio (UHR) has been validated in diabetes. However, association of UHR with cardiovascular (CV) mortality is undetermined in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods and results: In this retrospective cohort study, we enrolled 1953 eligible incident patients who commenced PD treatment on our hospital from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2015, and followed up until December 31, 2019. Of the participants, 14.9% were older than 65 years (mean age 47.3 +/- 15.2 years), 24.6% were diabetics, and 59.4% were male. Patients were categorized into quartiles according to baseline UHR level. Multivariate Cox Proportional Regression analysis was applied to explore the association of UHR with mortality. Overall, 567 patients died during a median follow-up period of 61.3 months, of which 274 (48.3%) were attributed to CV death. The mean baseline UHR was 16.4 +/- 6.7%. Compared to quartile 2 UHR, hazard ratios (HRs) for the highest quartile UHR were 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.78; P = 0.017) and 1.46 (95% CI 1.00-2.12; P = 0.047) for all-cause and CV mortality, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that association of UHR with CV mortality was remarkable among PD patients with age >= 65 years, malnutrition (albumin <35 g/L), diabetes, and CVD history. Conclusions: An elevated UHR predicted increased risk of all-cause and CV mortality in PD patients. (C) 2020 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that in peritoneal dialysis patients, a high uric acid/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (UHR) was associated with cardiovascular mortality, particularly in patients aged 65 years and older, with malnutrition, diabetes, and a history of cardiovascular disease.