Serum uric acid predicts cardiovascular mortality in male peritoneal dialysis patients with diabetes

- Uric acid was analyzed in 328 diabetic and 950 non-diabetic patients on dialysis.
- Uric acid was associated with cardiovascular mortality in male diabetic patients.
- Uric acid was associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in non-diabetic men.
- No association between uric acid and all-cause or cardiovascular mortality in women.
- Future studies should explore the gender different association between uric acid and mortality.

Background and aimsSerum uric acid may predict mortality in diabetic patients and dialysis patients. However, the relationship between serum uric acid and prognosis in diabetic peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is unclear.Methods and resultsWe conducted a cohort study of 1278 incident PD patients, (mean age 47.6 years), of which 328 (25.7%) had diabetes and 289 (22.6%) had diabetic nephropathy. During a median follow-up period of 30.7 months, 231 deaths occurred, of which 126 were ascribed to cardiovascular events. Mean serum uric acid was lower for diabetic patients than non-diabetic patients (6.8 ± 1.3 vs. 7.4 ± 1.4 mg/dL, respectively; P < 0.001). Cox regression models were adjusted for glycated hemoglobin, dialysis-related factors, traditional risk factors, and treatments. After adjustments, the highest sex-specific tertile of uric acid was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.14-4.48) compared to the lowest tertile in diabetic patients. Adjusted HRs per 1 mg/dL higher uric acid for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were 1.09 (95% CI, 0.91-1.32) and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.13-1.79) for diabetic men and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.83-1.35) and 1.12 (95% CI, 0.78-1.61) for diabetic women, respectively. Elevated serum uric acid predicted a higher risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in non-diabetic men but not in non-diabetic women.ConclusionsElevated serum uric acid is an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in diabetic male PD patients.