Elevated serum uric acid is associated with vascular inflammation but not coronary artery calcification in the healthy octogenarians: the Brazilian study on healthy aging.

BACKGROUND

There is a limited data on the association between serum uric acid (SUA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among the very elderly population.

OBJECTIVE

We evaluated the association of SUA, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP, a marker of vascular and systemic inflammation), and coronary artery calcification (CAC, a marker of subclinical CVD) in a cohort of Brazilian octogenarians (≥80 years) free from known clinical CVD.

METHODS

208 individuals were included and evaluated for an association between increasing tertiles of SUA, elevated hs-CRP (>3 mg/dL), the presence and burden of CAC (CAC > 0 and CAC > 400).

RESULTS

The median hs-CRP was 1.9 (IQR = 1.0-3.4) mg/L and mean SUA was 5.3 (±1.4) mg/dL. The overall prevalence of elevated hs-CRP (>3 mg/dL) was 31 %. A significant increase in the prevalence of hs-CRP was noted across the higher SUA tertiles (p < 0.001) with 3.4 times the odds of having elevated hs-CRP in the highest SUA tertile (3.40; CI = 1.27-9.08). No association was noted with either the CAC presence and/or CAC burden (CAC > 0 or CAC > 400) across the increasing SUA tertiles.

CONCLUSIONS

In the healthy octogenarians, higher SUA levels are associated with vascular inflammation (hs-CRP) but not with coronary atherosclerosis (CAC); markers for the subclinical CVD.