Uric acid levels are associated with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality independent of systemic inflammation in men from the general population: the MONICA/KORA cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess whether increasing serum uric acid (UA) levels are related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, all-cause mortality, and incident (fatal and nonfatal) myocardial infarction (MI) in men from the general population taking into account C-reactive protein (CRP), a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The study was based on 3604 men (45 to 74 years of age) who participated in 1 of the 3 MONICA Augsburg surveys between 1984 and 1995. All participants were prospectively followed within the framework of the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA). Up to December 31, 2002, there occurred 809 total deaths, 359 CVD deaths, and 297 incident MIs. In a Cox model, comparing extreme quartiles of the UA distribution, the hazard ratio for CVD mortality was 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04 to 2.0), and for all-cause mortality it was 1.40 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.74) after adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, CRP, and diuretic intake. However, UA was not associated with incident MI after multivariable adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS

High UA levels were independently associated with CVD mortality as well as all-cause mortality but not with incident MI in middle-aged men from the general population.