title: Relationships between mild hyperuricaemia and aortic stiffness in untreated hypertensive patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Clinical studies exploring the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and arterial stiffness yielded conflicting results. Only in a few of these studies, arterial distensibility was examined by measuring aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), which is considered the gold standard for evaluating arterial stiffness. In none of the previous investigations was the influence of SUA on aortic distensibility assessed, taking into account the effect of albuminuria. The purpose of our study was to comprehensively analyse the relationships between SUA and aortic PWV in a group of essential hypertensive patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 222 untreated and uncomplicated hypertensive subjects (mean age: 44 ± 10 years; 60% males), without gout. In all patients, SUA and urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) were determined. Moreover, carotid-femoral (c-f) PWV was measured. C-f PWV was significantly higher in hypertensive patients belonging to the uppermost tertile of SUA distribution, compared to subjects of the lowest tertiles (10.9 ± 2.2 vs. 10 ± 1.8 vs. 9.9 ± 1.7 m s(-1); p = 0.001). In univariate analysis, SUA correlated with c-f PWV (r = 0.24; p < 0.001). This association disappeared when AER was added in a multiple regression model, including SUA, age, mean arterial pressure, gender, metabolic syndrome components and glomerular filtration rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our study showed that, in essential hypertensive subjects, there is a positive relationship between mild hyperuricaemia and aortic stiffness. This association weakened after adjustment for covariates and lost statistical significance after further correction for albuminuria.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: giuseppe.mule@unipa.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mulè
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riccobene
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castiglia
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Ignoto
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ajello
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Geraci
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guarino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vaccaro
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cerasola
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), Unit of Nephrology and Hypertension, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cottone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000097:blood; D001011:Aorta / Q000503:physiopathology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D033461:Hyperuricemia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D014527:Uric Acid
keywords: Aortic stiffness; Arteriosclerosis; Essential hypertension; Pulse wave velocity; Serum uric acid