.
Characteristics Quartile 1 Quartile 2 Quartile 3 Quartile 4 P value
Age, years 43.91 0.31 43.66 0.31 46.58 0.31 50.71 0.31 <0.0001
Women, % 53.52 1.57 55.77 1.18 49.49 1.26 51.01 1.12 0.0073
Race-ethnicity, % 0.0010
Non-Hispanic whites 77.75 1.65 78.17 1.45 75.53 1.43 75.59 1.53
Non-Hispanic blacks 9.73 0.67 9.84 0.65 9.71 0.73 12.45 0.88
Mexican Americans 5.60 0.49 5.17 0.42 5.32 0.58 4.62 0.42
Others 6.92 1.17 6.82 1.04 9.44 1.15 7.35 0.89
Education categories, % 0.0002
Below high school 22.36 1.40 21.59 1.14 22.71 1.33 27.19 1.35
High school 32.19 1.35 35.88 1.19 33.47 1.52 34.56 0.99
Above high school 45.45 2.11 42.53 1.63 43.82 1.66 38.25 1.38
Smoking, % <0.0001
Never smoker 49.08 1.45 46.21 1.52 50.17 1.64 47.05 1.31
Former smoker 20.21 1.07 22.78 1.02 23.91 1.19 28.22 0.98
Current smoker 30.72 1.21 31.01 1.62 25.92 1.33 24.74 1.18
Alcohol intake, %
Current drinker 54.36 1.99 55.17 1.80 57.91 1.45 53.44 1.81 0.0680
Body mass index, kg/m
2
<0.0001
Normal 63.90 1.40 53.22 1.14 38.79 1.28 24.36 0.88
Overweight 26.95 1.10 32.28 0.89 36.33 1.44 35.97 1.31
Obese 9.16 0.77 14.50 0.98 24.88 1.11 39.67 1.22
Total cholesterol, mg/dL 195.03 0.73 200.54 0.72 207.12 0.73 214.81 0.73 <0.0001
Data presented are row percentages or mean values standard error (SE).
Serum uric acid quartiles: <4.3 mg/dL, 4.305.20 mg/dL, 5.306.20 mg/dL, >6.20 mg/dL.
Table 2: Association between serum uric acid level and diabetes mellitus.
Serum uric acid level
Number at risk
(Diabetes cases)
Age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio
(95% condence interval)
Multivariable-adjusted odds ratio
(95% condence interval)
Serum uric acid quartiles: <4.3 mg/dL, 4.305.20 mg/dL, 5.306.20 mg/dL, >6.20 mg/dL.
Adjusted for age (years), sex (men, women), race-ethnicity (non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Mexican Americans, etc.), education categories
(<high school, high school, >high school), smoking (never, former, current), alcohol intake (never, former, current), BMI (normal, overweight, obese),
hypertension (absent, present), and serum total cholesterol (mg/dL).
uric acid and diabetes mellitus was present across the full
range of serum uric acid levels available in the present study
(Figure 1). Overall, there appeared to be a continuous inverse
association between serum uric acid and diabetes mellitus
with increasing serum uric acid levels; there is no evidence
of any threshold eect.
7. Discussion
Higher serum uric acid levels were found to be inversely
associated with diabetes mellitus in a large, contemporary,
multiethnic sample of US adults. The observed inverse
relation between serum uric acid and diabetes mellitus
appeared to be independent of potential confounders and
was consistently present in subgroup analyses by gender
and hypertension. In a subsequent analysis, employing
nonparametric models, the observed inverse association
between serum uric acid quartiles and diabetes mellitus was
present continuously across the full range of serum uric
acid.
Previous studies examining the association between
serum uric acid levels and diabetes mellitus were restricted
4 International Journal of Endocrinology
Table 3: Association between serum uric acid level and diabetes
mellitus by gender.
Serum uric acid
level
Number at risk
(Diabetes cases)
Multivariable-adjusted
odds ratio (95%
condence interval)
Women
Quartile 1
(<3.8 mg/dL)
1839 (113) 1 (referent)
Quartile 2
(3.84.5 mg/dL)
2046 (121) 0.79 (0.491.28)
Quartile 3
(4.65.4 mg/dL)
1843 (103) 0.53 (0.330.83)
Quartile 4
(>5.4 mg/dL)
1881 (209) 0.78 (0.511.20)
P trend 0.3590
Men
Quartile 1
(<5.20 mg/dL)
1643 (192) 1 (referent)
Quartile 2
(5.205.9 mg/dL)
1578 (85) 0.42 (0.230.76)
Quartile 3
(6.06.8 mg/dL)
1656 (82) 0.35 (0.210.58)
Quartile 4
(>6.8 mg/dL)
1658 (116) 0.32 (0.200.51)
P trend <0.0001
Serum uric acid quartiles: <4.3 mg/dL, 4.305.20 mg/dL, 5.306.20 mg/dL,
>6.20 mg/dL.
Number at risk
(Diabetes cases)
Multivariable-adjusted
odds ratio (95%
condence interval)
No hypertension
Quartile 1
(<4.30 mg/dL)
2623 (150) 1 (referent)
Quartile 2
(4.305.20 mg/dL)
2651 (89) 0.45 (0.250.80)
Quartile 3
(5.306.20 mg/dL)
2271 (54) 0.29 (0.160.54)
Quartile 4
(>6.20 mg/dL)
1721 (77) 0.40 (0.220.70)
P trend 0.0015
Hypertension
Quartile 1
(<4.30 mg/dL)
859 (155) 1 (referent)
Quartile 2
(4.305.20 mg/dL)
973 (117) 0.66 (0.431.01)
Quartile 3
(5.306.20 mg/dL)
1228 (131) 0.52 (0.350.76)
Quartile 4
(>6.20 mg/dL)
1818 (248) 0.57 (0.380.86)
P trend 0.0232
Serum uric acid quartiles: <4.3 mg/dL, 4.305.20 mg/dL, 5.306.20 mg/dL,
>6.20 mg/dL.