Elevated serum uric acid a warning signal for CV events in female T2DM patients

A study has found a link between baseline serum uric acid (UA) levels and cardiovascular (CV) events among hospitalized female but not male type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) patients, such that the higher the levels, the greater the CV risk.

The retrospective analysis included 2,227 hospitalized patients with T2DM (59 percent male). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the possible relationship of serum UA with CV events, including CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, heart failure, unstable angina, and arrhythmias requiring hospitalization.

Among male patients, 143 out of 1,314 (10.9 percent) experienced CV events. However, there was no association seen between serum UA level and the risk of CV events (per 100 μmol/L increase in serum UA: hazard ratio [HR], 1.12, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.90–1.40).

Meanwhile, among the 913 women included in the study, 96 (10.5 percent) had CV events. Unlike in men, serum UA level showed a positive association with the outcome. Every 100-μmol/L increase in serum UA upped the risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event by 27 percent (HR, 1.27, 95 percent CI, 1.02–1.57).

The findings suggest that serum UA levels may be a significant independent risk factor for CV events in hospitalized T2DM patients, but this is limited to women.