title: Relationship between serum uric acid and metabolic syndrome: an analysis by structural equation modeling.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the nature of the relationships between uric acid and metabolic syndrome (MetS) components.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body mass index, waist circumference, serum uric acid, fasting glucose, lipid profiles, and blood pressure were measured in 13,811 subjects aged between 18 and 85 years of age. Two structural equation models (SEMs) were used to test a hypothesis regarding the linking roles of uric acid in the occurrence of MetS components in male and female separately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings of the SEM demonstrated that increased uric acid level was associated with fasting glucose (beta = 0.221, P < .001), blood pressure (beta = 0.158, P < .001), and lipid profiles (beta = 0.391, P < .001) in women. Increased uric acid level was associated with decreased fasting glucose (beta = -0.071, P < .001) and increased lipid profiles (beta = 0.352, P < .001) in men. The association was stronger between uric acid and lipid profiles than those between uric acid and other MetS components.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By using SEM, we were able to confirm the intimate relationships between uric acid and MetS components, particularly in women. The associations between uric acid and MetS components were gender specific, and the nature of such association requires further exploration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huanli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Guolin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guowei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014527:Uric Acid