Predictive value of serum uric acid levels for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome in adolescents

Objective: To evaluate the cause-effect relationships between serum levels of uric acid (UA) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in an adolescent-male cohort that was followed for 2.7 years.

Study design: We enrolled male adolescents aged between 10 and 15 years at the baseline. A total of 613 subjects were divided into quartiles according to their UA levels, from UA-1 (the lowest) to UA-4 (the highest).

Results: After the mean follow-up period of 2.7 ± 0.97 years, 19 (3.1%) subjects developed MetS. Waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and log triglyceride levels were significantly related to baseline UA levels. Compared with the UA-1 group, subjects in the UA-4 group had significantly higher OR for abnormal WC, blood pressure, and HDL-C at the end of follow-up and had a 6.39-fold higher OR (95% CI 1.41-29.08; P < .05) for having MetS. Subjects with UA >7.6 mg/dL had a 4.32 (95% CI 1.57-11.93) higher risk of developing MetS.

Conclusions: In this longitudinal study, we found that serum UA is correlated with future WC, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride, and HDL-C and is a risk factor for developing MetS. UA might be valuable in predicting adolescent MetS.