Serum Uric Acid Levels and Its Association with Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Although the issue of hyperuricemia as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has been disputed, sev eral studies have shown an association between hyperuricemia and several CVD risk factors. The aim of this study was to assess distribution of uric acid level in Yazd City, center of Iran, and its association with CVD risk factors. From autumn 2004 to summer 2005, 2000 urban population of Yazd City, aging 20-74 years via clustering ran dom sampling were enrolled in this cross sectional study. Serum uric acid level, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and waist/hip ratio were signifi cantly higher in men than in women (P< 0.001),moreover, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and body mass index (BMI) were significantly higher in women (P< 0.001). The prevalence of hyperuricemia and metabolic syndrome in men and women was (17.9%, 11.25% P= 0.001) and (11.87%, 19.32% P= 0.01), respectively. Hyperuricemia was more preva lent in metabolic syndrome and ischemic heart disease independent of age and sex. Significant correlations were found between serum uric acid and several components of the metabolic syn drome. Weight, waist circumstance, triglyceride level and DBP, were the major determinants of the variations in serum uric acid levels. This could be attributed to the insulin resistance status.