Hyperuricemia increases the risk of cardiovascular mortality associated with very high HdL-cholesterol level

Background and aims: Whether the association between very high HDL-cholesterol levels and cardiovascular mortality (CVM) is modulated by some facilitating factors is unclear. Aim of the study was to investigate whether the risk of CVM associated with very high HDL-cholesterol is increased in subjects with hyperuricemia.Methods and results: Multivariable Cox analyses were made in 18,072 participants from the mul-ticentre URRAH study stratified by sex and HDL-cholesterol category. During a median follow-up of 11.4 years there were 1307 cases of CVM. In multivariable Cox models a J-shaped association was found in the whole population, with the highest risk being present in the high HDL-cholesterol group [>80 mg/dL, adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 1.28; 95%CI, 1.02-1.61; p = 0.031)]. However, a sex-specific analysis revealed that this association was present only in women (HR, 1.34; 95%CI, 1.02-1.77; p = 0.034) but not in men. The risk of CVM related to high HDL-cholesterol was much greater in the women with high uric acid (>0.30 mmol/L, HR 1.61; 95% CI, 1.08-2.39) than in those with low uric acid (HR, 1.17; 95%CI, 0.80-1.72, p for interaction = 0.016). In women older than 70 years with hyperuricemia the risk related to high HDL-cholesterol was 1.83 (95%CI, 1.19-2.80, p < 0.005). Inclusion of BMI in the models weakened the strength of the associations.Conclusion: Our data indicate that very high HDL-cholesterol levels in women are associated with CVM in a J-shaped fashion. The risk of CVM is increased by concomitant hyperuricemia suggest-ing that a proinflammatory/oxidative state can enhance the detrimental cardiovascular effects associated with high HDL-cholesterol. 2022 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Ital-ian 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

This study investigates the association between very high HDL-cholesterol levels and cardiovascular mortality (CVM), and whether this association is influenced by hyperuricemia. The results show a J-shaped association between high HDL-cholesterol levels and CVM in women, but not in men. Additionally, the risk of CVM related to high HDL-cholesterol is increased in women with hyperuricemia.