Association of Serum Uric Acid Levels with Cardiometabolic Factors in Adolescents with Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION

High serum uric acid (SUA) levels are known to be correlated with cardiometabolic factors in adults, but this relationship is less clear in the pediatric population, particularly given the undefined cutoff points for high SUA levels.

OBJETIVE

This study aimed to explore the associations between SUA levels and cardiometabolic factors in obese adolescents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 391 adolescents aged 10 to 18 years with obesity (BMI > 95th percentile), assessing outcomes such as hypertriglyceridemia, reduced HDL cholesterol, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance. The statistical methods used to compare SUA levels with cardiometabolic factors included the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test.

RESULTS

The results revealed that the median SUA level was 5.9 mg/dL, with significant differences between the sexes (5.5 mg/dL for girls and 6.1 mg/dL for boys). The highest SUA tertile (≥6.41 mg/dL) was associated with a significantly greater frequency of hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia than the lowest tertile ( < 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

The study concluded that higher SUA levels are significantly associated with specific cardiometabolic risks in adolescents with obesity, highlighting the importance of monitoring SUA levels in this population.