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Buenos Aires 01 de Agosto del 2024
Hyperuricemia and Mortality Related to Aortic Diseases
Hyperuricemia and Mortality Related to Aortic Diseases
Yoichiro Otaki, Tetsu Watanabe, Tsuneo Konta, Masafumi Watanabe, Koichi Asahi, el al.
Scientific Reports; volume 10, Article number: 14281 (August,2020)
Owing to the westernization of eating habits, hyperuricemia is becoming an increasing public health problem associated with gout arthritis as well as cardiovascular risk and mortality. Hyperuricemia was previously considered a mere bystander condition to cardiovascular diseases, as it is closely associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension (HT), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and metabolic syndrome.
Recent reports revealed a relationship between hyperuricemia and stroke, cardiovascular disease, and deaths,. On the other hand, although patients with aortic diseases (ADs), such as aortic dissection and aortic aneurysm rupture, reportedly had higher levels of uric acid than those without ADs, the impact of hyperuricemia on AD-related mortality in the general population remains undetermined.
AD is a devastating clinical problem that can cause sudden death. Notably, the prevalence of aortic dissection is still increasing in developing countries.
Despite advances in medicine, it remains difficult to save patient lives after the onset of AD, and almost all patients with AD die before hospital arrival. Furthermore, the mortality rate of AD at 1 month after symptom onset reaches approximately 50% despite treatment. Therefore, it is crucial to identify high-risk persons and prevent the development of AD in the general population through health check-ups.
Plenty of research shows that diabetes and cardiovascular disease go hand in hand. A rare type of cardiovascular disease called aortic disease is one such example. This disease causes sudden death due to a fault in the aorta, a critical part of the heart. Due to its rarity, there is a lack of data on the disease and its relationships.
Hyperuricemia is when there is an excess amount of uric acid in the blood. Commonly associated with diabetes and gout, it has also been connected to cardiovascular disease. This new study examined how hyperuricemia and aortic disease were related and whether it could indicate aortic disease severity. To do this, they tapped into Japan’s “Specific Health and Guidance in Japan” database. This database held information on over 1.8 million volunteers. The team narrowed down the data to those with hyperuricemia, diabetes, or hypertension (a common cardiovascular disease). Hyperuricemia patients specifically were more likely to be younger men, with diabetes or a cardiovascular disease.
A small group of the overall patients had an aortic disease-related death – 115 out of 1.8 million. There were several indicators of severity, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hyperuricemia. Considering hyperuricemia is a common symptom of many diseases that also acted as indicators of the severity of aortic disease, this could be a passing coincidence.
Although the hyperuricemia-aortic disease connection might be coincidental, the team suggests it still could be an indicator of severity. The data showed the increased uric acid levels correlated with a higher risk of aortic disease death. Statistical analysis also supports hyperuricemia as an independent risk factor for aortic disease. While the team has ideas on how they may be linked, they could not go further in the scope of this study.
The study concludes, “The main finding of the present study is that hyperuricemia is an independent predictor for AD-related death. In conclusion, hyperuricemia is a novel risk factor for AD-related deaths in the general population and could be a therapeutic target to prevent sudden death.”
The present study aimed to examine whether hyperuricemia is a pivotal risk factor for AD-related death in the general population