High serum uric acid/creatinine ratio is a useful predictor of hypertension among Japanese community-dwelling persons.

BACKGROUND

The correlation between serum uric acid/creatinine (SUA/Cr) ratio and hypertension risk has not been well studied. This study aims to examine whether the SUA/Cr ratio is a predictor of hypertension.

METHODS

This cohort study comprised 171 men aged 64 ± 11 (mean ± standard deviation) years and 266 women aged 65 ± 10 years recruited for a survey at the community-based annual medical check-up. The main outcome was the presence of hypertension (antihypertensive medication) and having systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 90 mmHg.

RESULTS

The baseline SUA/Cr ratio was significantly correlated only with DBP at 3 years in men ( = 0.217, = 0.004) and women ( = 0.126, = 0.040), and with both SBP ( = 0.103, = 0.031) and DBP ( = 0.15, = 0.001) in the overall participants of men and women. A plausible prognostic cut-off of SUA/Cr ratio (≥ 7.41) was found and was the same in women and in all participants. Multivariable logistic regressions showed that SUA/Cr ratio was significantly linked with hypertension (as a categorical variable, SUA/Cr ratio-2 vs. SUA/Cr ratio-1: odds ratio [OR], 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-4.30; = 0.275, SUA/Cr ratio-3 vs. SUA/Cr ratio-1: OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.08-7.60; = 0.035, SUA/Cr ratio-4 vs. SUA/Cr ratio ratio-1: OR, 4.05; 95% CI, 1.32-12.5; = 0.031, and SUA/Cr ratio ≥ 7.41 vs. SUA/Cr ratio < 7.41: OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.32-3.84; = 0.003). Significant ORs were found for age < 65 years, women, and BMI <25 kg/m, but no interactions were identified within each group.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the baseline SUA/Cr ratio could be an important predictor for the incidence of hypertension in Japanese community-dwelling persons.