Association of Serum Uric Acid with Body Mass Index Among Long-lived Chinese

Objectives: To examine the individual association between BMI and level of serum uric acid (SUA) among the very elderly Chinese population.

Methods: A survey was conducted on 870 long-lived subjects (aged ≥90years). Subjects were divided into four groups according to quartile of BMI (<16.6, 16.6-18.9, 18.9-21.1, ≥21.1kg/m(2)) and to classification criteria of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity in BMI (<18.5, 18.5-23.0, 23.0-27.5, ≥27.5kg/m(2), respectively). Subjects were also divided into hyperuricemia and normal SUA groups.

Results: The sample included 661 unrelated Chinese. The mean age was 93.52±3.29years (range 90-108years). The mean level of BMI was 19.16±3.47kg/m(2) and mean SUA was 318.72±87.01. Compared to individuals without hyperuricemia, high level of SUA was associated with a higher level of BMI in both genders (p<0.001). According to the both BMI classification criteria, the group with higher BMI had higher level of SUA (p<0.001). Pearson correlation showed that SUA was significantly correlated with BMI (with coefficients r=0.235, 0.140, in men and women, respectively). Unadjusted and adjusted multiple logistic regressions showed that odds ratios for hyperuricemia were associated with BMI according to quartile of BMI.

Conclusions: We found that among long-lived Chinese subjects, higher levels of SUA may be associated with higher BMI.