Association of Serum Uric Acid With Aortic Stiffness and Pressure in a Chinese Workplace Setting

BACKGROUND In the present analysis, we investigated the association of serum uric acid with aortic stiffness and pressure as measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and central systolic blood pressure (SBP), respectively. METHODS Our study was conducted in the framework of cardiovascular health examinations for the employees of a factory and their family members (ages 15-79 years). We performed arterial measurements using the SphygmoCor device. Hyperuricemia was defined as a serum uric acid concentration of at least 420 mu mol/l in men and 360 mu mol/l in women. RESULTS The 940 study participants included 207(22.0%) hypertensive patients, of whom 92(9.8%) took antihypertensive medication. Men (n = 620), compared with women (n = 320), had significantly (P <= 0.03) higher serum uric acid concentration (363 +/- 76 vs. 272 +/- 64 mu mol/l), prevalence of hyperuricemia (17.9% vs. 7.5%), cf-PWV (7.41 vs. 7.16 m/s), and central SBP (114.4 vs. 108.8 mm Hg). Both before and after adjustment for age, serum uric acid was significantly (P <= 0.02) and positively associated with cf-PWV and central SBP in all subjects and in men and women separately. After full adjustment for covariates, the association with cf-PWV remained statistically significant (P <= 0.009) in all subjects and men, and with central SBP in all subjects only. Categorical analyses were confirmatory. In all subjects, patients with hyperuricemia had significantly (P = 0.03) higher cf-PWV (7.51 vs. 7.29 m/s) and central SBP (114.9 vs. 112.1 mm Hg) than those with normal serum uric acid. CONCLUSIONS Serum uric acid was associated with aortic stiffness and pressure in a Chinese workplace setting, especially in men.