Chapter 6

Uric Acid, Hyperuricemia and Diabetes

Hairong Nan

Abstract

We began this chapter by summarizing the definition of hyperuricemia and its increasing prevalence in different ethnic groups that accompany the increase in obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome worldwide. This was followed by a discussion on complex associations between serum Uric Acid (UA) and Fasting and 2-hour Plasma Glucose (FPG and 2hPG) in both pre-diabetes and diabetic patients. The UA-glucose association was positive in the low FPG and low 2hPG distributions, but negative in the upper FPG and 2hPG distributions. In spite of inconsistent findings among studies, most prospective data found that higher levels of baseline UA predicted a future risk of developing type 2 diabetes independently. The direction of causality between value of UA and the development of type 2 diabetes is, however, uncertain. Further studies to investigate the pathophysiological mechanism underlying the relationship between glucose, UA and cardio-metabolic risk factors are gravely needed.

Total Pages: 82-97 (16)

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