Background: Growing evidence suggests that high serum uric acid (SUA) levels are causally related to increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, few studies have investigated the influence of elevated SUA levels on the incidence of kidney dysfunction and albuminuria separately in community-based populations.
Methods and results: A total of 2,059 community-dwelling Japanese subjects aged ≥40 years without CKD were followed for 5 years. CKD was defined as kidney dysfunction (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) or albuminuria (urine albumin-creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g). The odds ratio (OR) for the development of CKD was estimated according to quartiles of SUA (≤4.0, 4.1-4.9, 5.0-5.8, and ≥5.9 mg/dl). During the follow-up, 396 subjects developed CKD, of whom 125 had kidney dysfunction and 312 had albuminuria. The multivariable-adjusted risk of developing CKD increased with higher SUA levels (OR 1.00 [reference] for ≤4.0, 1.21 [95% confidence interval, 0.84-1.74] for 4.1-4.9, 1.47 [1.01-2.17] for 5.0-5.8, and 2.10 [1.37-3.23] for SUA ≥5.9 mg/dl, respectively). Similarly, there were positive associations between SUA level and the adjusted risk of developing kidney dysfunction (OR 1.00 [reference], 2.30 [1.10-4.82], 2.81 [1.34-5.88], and 3.73 [1.65-8.44]) and albuminuria (1.00 [reference], 1.12 [0.76-1.65], 1.35 [0.90-2.03], and 1.81 [1.14-2.87], respectively).
Conclusions: Higher SUA levels were a significant risk factor for the development of both kidney dysfunction and albuminuria in a general Japanese population. (Circ J 2016; 80: 1857-1862).