Abstract
Introduction: Findings that African-American race/ethnicity is associated with higher concentrations of serum urate have not been adjusted for possible confounding factors or have not explored this question as a primary outcome. We tested this hypothesis in a bi-racial cohort of younger African-American and white men and women.Methods: Data from 5,049 participants at the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort baseline (1985 to1986) and follow-up for up to 20 years of individuals without hyperuricemia (defined as a serum urate of 6.8 mg/dL or more) at baseline were utilized. We determined associations between race, serum urate and the development of hyperuricemia in sex-specific cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Confounding factors examined included: age at enrollment, body mass index, development of hypertension, glomerular filtration rate, medication use, diet and alcohol intake and menopausal symptoms in women.Results: Referent to whites, African-American men and women had significantly lower concentrations of serum urate at baseline. African-American men had an essentially equal risk of developing incident hyperuricemia during follow-up compared with white men (multivariable adjusted HR = 1.12 (0.88 to1.40)). African-American women developed a significantly increased risk of hyperuricemia when compared to white women (HR = 2.31 (1.34 to 3.99)).Conclusions: Young African-American men and women had lower concentrations of serum urate than whites. During longitudinal follow-up, African-American women had a significantly increased risk of developing hyperuricemia when compared with white women, a difference that was not observed in men. Differences in production of serum urate or a more rapid decline in fractional excretion of serum urate are potential, albeit still unproven, explanations for these findings in African-American women.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | R4 |
| Journal | Arthritis Research and Therapy |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 6 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dr. Saag discloses having received research funding from Takeda Pharmaceuticals and being a consultant for Ardea Pharmaceuticals, URL Pharma and Novartis. All other authors report no conflict of interest.
Funding Information:
The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Steve Sidney, MD MPH from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, who evaluated this manuscript prior to submission, as part of the CARDIA internal peer-review process. In addition, the authors extend their thanks to the administrative and statistical support personnel of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Preventive Medicine that maintain the CARDIA cohort. Work on this manuscript was supported (or partially supported) by contracts: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Coordinating Center, N01-HC-95095; University of Alabama at Birmingham, Field Center, N01-HC-48047; University of Minnesota, Field Center and Diet Reading Center (Year 20 Exam), N01-HC-48048; Northwestern University, Field Center, N01-HC-48049; Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, N01-HC-48050; University of California, Irvine, Echocardiography Reading Center (Year 5 and 10), N01-HC-45134; Harbor-UCLA Research Education Institute, Computed Tomography Reading Center (Year 15 Exam), N01-HC-05187; Wake Forest University (Year 20 Exam), N01-HC-45205; New England Medical Center (Year 20 Exam), N01-HC-45204 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. NHLBI had input into the overall design and conduct of the CARDIA study.