Correlations of serum uric acid level with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and carotid atherosclerosis in young and middle-aged people

Objective To explore the correlations of serum uric acid (SUA) level with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) in young and middle-aged people with different genders in physical examination.

Methods A total of 1 274 incumbent employees with physical examination from March to June 2021 were selected as research objects.The SUA levels and the detection rates of hyperuricemia (HUA) in young and middle-aged people with different gender and age were observed; the correlations of SUA level with blood glucose and blood lipid level were analyzed; according to the quartile of SUA level, the correlations of different SUA levels with elevated blood glucose, abnormal fat metabolism, NAFLD and CAS were analyzed.

Results Except for age group of 60 to 64 years, the SUA levels of men in other age groups were significantly higher than those of women (P < 0.01);the detection rates of HUA in men in other age groups were higher than those in women, and the significant differences were observed between men and women in the age groups of ≤40 years and 41 to 49 years (P < 0.01);the SUA levels in young and middle-aged men showed decreasing trend with age growing, while that of women increased.SUA level was positively correlated with fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)(r=0.113, 0.092, 0.130, 0.431, 0.202, P≤0.001), and negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)(r=-0.365, P < 0.001).Further grouping was conducted according to the quartile of SUA level.With the increase of SUA level, TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C gradually tended to be abnormal, the difference between the fourth quartile (Q₄ group) and the first quartile (Q₁ group) was statistically significant (P < 0.05).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of abnormal lipid metabolism, NAFLD and CAS increased significantly with the increase of SUA level; after adjusting for other factors, taking group Q₁ as the reference group, the risk of abnormal lipid metabolism and NAFLD in male Q₄ group increased by 221.5%(OR=3.215, 95%CI, 2.154 to 4.798) and 216.3%(OR=3.163, 95%CI, 1.999 to 5.005) respectively, and the risk of CAS in male Q₃ group increased by 87.9%(OR=1.879, 95%CI, 1.031 to 3.426);the risk of abnormal lipid metabolism in female Q₄ group increased by 169.8%(OR=2.698, 95%CI, 1.105 to 6.587).

Conclusion Different SUA levels in middle-aged and young people are significantly correlated with FBG, abnormal lipid metabolism, NAFLD and the prevalence of CAS.The risk of men is significantly higher than that of women.