Abstract
Obese children tend to have higher levels of serum uric acid (sUA), but reports on the relationship of these levels with metabolic syndrome (MetS) are scanty. The present study investigated this relationship as well as the usefulness of sUA in the diagnosis of MetS. The samples were 1,261 obese children (male: 764, female: 497) with BMI z-scores greater than 2 who received a children’s health examination in a certain city between 2006 and 2009. Based on the reference values of sUA in children established by M. Kubota in 2009, the z-scores of greater than +2.0 were considered to indicate hyperuricemia. We used Ozeki’s criteria for the diagnosis of MetS in children. Hyperuricemia was seen in 23.1% (291 out of 1,261 samples), and the prevalence was significantly higher in males. MetS was positive in 37.1% (108 out of 291 samples) with hyperuricemia and in 15.6% (151 out of 970 samples) without hyperuricemia. The difference was statistically significant. When the total population was divided into quartiles based on z-scores of sUA, the odds ratio of the highest quatile to the lowest quartile was 7.2 in the risk of MetS prevalence. The logistic analysis revealed a positive association in the hyperuricemia group with abdominal circumference, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol. ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve for sUA was 0.66, which was similar to those for HDL-cholesterol or abdominal circumference/height ratio. The present study demonstrated the close association of sUA and the occurrence of Mets in obese children.
