Uric Acid Levels Are Associated with Bone Mineral Density in Mexican Populations: A Longitudinal Study

Background: Inconsistent epidemiological evidence between uric acid (UA) and bone mineral density (BMD) has been observed. Therefore, we evaluated the association between UA and BMD in Mexican adults. Methods: This analysis was conducted on 1423 participants from the Health Workers Cohort Study. We explored cross-sectional associations using linear regression and longitudinal associations using fixed-effects linear regression by sex and age groups (<45 and >= 45 years). Results: In females <45 years old, the cross-sectional analysis showed that UA levels were positively associated with total hip BMD. However, in the longitudinal analysis, we observed a negative association with the femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD. In contrast, in males <45 years old, we found an increase in total hip and femoral neck BMD in the groups with high levels of UA in the longitudinal association. On the other hand, in females >= 45 years old, we observed a longitudinal association between UA and loss of BMD at different sites. We did not observe an association between UA levels and BMD in males >= 45 years old. Conclusions: Our results suggest higher serum UA levels are associated with low BMD at different skeletal sites in Mexican females. Further studies are needed to delineate the underlying mechanisms behind this observation.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the association between uric acid (UA) and bone mineral density (BMD) in Mexican adults. The results showed that in females <45 years old, UA levels were positively associated with total hip BMD, but negatively associated with femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD in the longitudinal analysis. In males <45 years old, higher UA levels were associated with an increase in total hip and femoral neck BMD. In females >= 45 years old, there was a longitudinal association between UA and loss of BMD at different sites. No association was observed between UA levels and BMD in males >= 45 years old.