Association between serum uric acid levels and incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in users of preventive medicine service in southern Brazil: a retrospective study

Abstract

Abstract Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a silent disease with increasing prevalence. High levels of serum uric acid (SUA) have been associated with cardiometabolic diseases, yet the possible association between SUA levels and NAFLD is not elucidated. This article aim is to evaluate the possible association between SUA and NAFLD in a Brazilian population. Methods This retrospective study evaluated patients submitted to two evaluations between 2015 and 2016 at a preventive medicine service. The diagnosis of NAFLD was performed through abdominal ultrasound, and its progression was defined as favorable or unfavorable according to the degrees of steatosis. Patients with hyperthyroidism, pregnancy, viral hepatitis, use of methotrexate or anabolic steroids, significant alcohol consumption were excluded. Possible confounding factors were evaluated through a multivariate model. Results A total of 279 patients were included in the final sample. In the first evaluation, 20.1% were women and the mean age was 46.9 (± 7.9) years, with a mean body mass index of 27.3 (± 4.0) kg/m2. About 26.9% of the individuals were diagnosed with NAFLD, and the mean of SUA levels was 5.7 (± 1.4) mg/dL; a favorable progression of NAFLD was observed in 79.2% of the patients, and the SUA levels at baseline were not significantly associated with the NAFLD progression (p = 0.43). Conclusions Despite NAFLD high prevalence, SUA levels were not significantly associated with NAFLD progression in one year in this sample.

Keywords

• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
• Urate
• Hyperuricemia
• Preventive medicine