title: The impact of serum uric acid level on arterial stiffness and carotid atherosclerosis: the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Serum uric acid level has been found to be associated with a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, the topic has not been explored in the general population, especially in Korea. This study was designed to determine whether serum uric acid is associated with carotid atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness in the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 5568 participants from the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort were evaluated for the risk of hyperuricemia in cardiovascular atherosclerosis. Important surrogates for cardiovascular atherosclerosis such as intima-media thickness (IMT) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were assessed. We evaluated the association between these atherosclerosis indices and serum uric acid level or hyperuricemia through multivariate-adjusted logistic and linear regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference of carotid IMT and baPWV between males and females (p < 0.0001, respectively). Both male and female subjects with hyperuricemia showed higher baPWV than subjects without hyperuricemia (p = 0.0004 for males; p = 0.001 for females). Serum uric acid level was positively correlated with baPWV in males (β = 0.0006, p < 0.0001) and in females (β = 0.0001, p = 0.04), whereas no association between serum uric acid and carotid IMT was found in either gender. A linear relationship of baPWV with increasing serum uric acid level was observed in males (p = 0.0005) and in females (p = 0.004).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum uric acid level could be considered an important risk factor for arterial stiffness in Korean population, whereas carotid IMT is not associated with serum uric acid in either gender when using data from the Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Suk
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Pil Sook
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Bo Youl
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Mi Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Young-Hoon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung-Yeol
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Seong-Kyu
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D044466:Asian People; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033461:Hyperuricemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D014527:Uric Acid
keywords: Arterial stiffness; Atherosclerosis; Carotid plaque; Intima–media thickness; Uric acid