Relationship Between Serum Uric Acid And Metabolic Syndrome:An Analysis By Structural Equation Modeling

[Background]Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a clustering of metabolic disturbances that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Metabolic syndrome is recognized as an important public issue in china while its prevalence equals to25.5%in the old. It is well established that MS involves the co-occurrence of four common components:1) obesity;2) increased fasting plasma glucose;3)Dyslipidemia;4)high blood pressure. Increasing evidence suggests that a person’s level of uric acid might play a role in the MS. In addition, the relationship between uric acid and MS may vary with age and gender. Structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used to test the association between hyperuricemia\inflammation and metabolic syndrome components that must be considered as a whole. Two gender-specific models used in this study were adapted from a SEM raised by Lin JW. The above-mentioned two models were tested in women (premenopausal and postmenopausal women) and men (more than and less than55years old) separately. The four MS components were considered as latent variables which loaded on there respective variables.[Objectives]To investigate the nature of the relationships between uric acid and metabolic syndrome components by structural equation model.[Methods]Subjects for this study were recruited during the period from January2011to January2012in the Health Management Center of Dongying Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital with no restriction on age and sex. Data was analyzed as follows:1. Descriptive analysis:The characteristics and laboratory results of subjects will be analyzed. Central tendency and Tendency of Dispersion of each variable will be shown. The method of Independent-Samples t test was applied to detect differences in each variable between the four subgroups.2. Two structural equation models (SEM) were used to test a hypothesis regarding the linking roles of uric acid in the co-occurrence of MS components in the above-mentioned four subgroups.[Results]Postmenopausal women had significantly greater BMI, blood pressure, uric acid, TG, fasting glucose and prevalence of metabolic dysfunction than premenopausal women. But HDL level were similar between the two groups. Except BMI, TG, prevalence of obesity and dyslipidemia, other variables were greater in men older than55than men less than55years old. The findings of the SEM demonstrated that increased uric acid level was associated with abnormal glucose metabolism (β=0.087, t=2.089) in postmenopausal women but not in premenopausal women(β=0.007,t=0.45). Hyperuricemia was positively associated with obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension in both postmenopausal women and in premenopausal women. Increased uric acid level was positively associated with obesity, abnormal glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia and hypertension in both men older than55years and men younger than55years.[Conclusions]Hyperuricemia was positively associated with obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension while the association strengths were age and gender specific. Hyperuricemia may protect men from abnormal glucose metabolism. However, hyperuricemia may increase the risk of abnormal glucose metabolism in postmenopausal women, while no association between them was found in premenopausal women. Person’s level of estrogen might play a role in the link between uric acid and MS.