title: Uric acid in metabolic syndrome: From an innocent bystander to a central player.
abstract: Uric acid, once viewed as an inert metabolic end-product of purine metabolism, has been recently incriminated in a number of chronic disease states, including hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease. Several experimental and clinical studies support a role for uric acid as a contributory causal factor in these conditions. Here we discuss some of the major mechanisms linking uric acid to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. At this time the key to understanding the importance of uric acid in these diseases will be the conduct of large clinical trials in which the effect of lowering uric acid on hard clinical outcomes is assessed. Elevated uric acid may turn out to be one of the more important remediable risk factors for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Koc University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: mkanbay@ku.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanbay
authors.affiliation: Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Sakarya Training and Research Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yalcin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Solak
authors.affiliation: Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Myphuong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roncal-Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rivard
authors.affiliation: Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lanaspa
authors.affiliation: TMK Project, Medical Innovation Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA; Division of Nephrology, Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Department of Veteran Affairs, Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood*; D033461:Hyperuricemia / Q000097:blood*; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000097:blood*; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014527:Uric Acid
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Diabetes mellitus; Hypertension; Kidney disease; Metabolic syndrome; Uric acid