Hyperuricemia has been associated with low heart rate variability (HRV), however whether there is an association between uric acid (UA) and HRV changes after hemodialysis (HD) is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of UA in HRV changes before and after HD in non-diabetic patients. Ninety-six non-diabetic patients under maintenance HD were enrolled. HRV was examined to assess changes before and after HD. A change in HRV (ΔHRV) was calculated as post-HD HRV minus pre-HD HRV. Compared to the patients with a UA level ≦ 7 mg/dL, those with a UA level > 7 mg/dL had lower ∆high frequency (HF)% (p = 0.027). UA was negatively associated with ∆HF% (r = -0.247, p = 0.015) and ∆low frequency (LF)/HF (r = -0.236, p = 0.021) in the non-diabetic patients undergoing HD. Furthermore, in multivariate analysis after adjustments for demographic, clinical, and biochemical characteristics and medications, UA was independently associated with ∆HF% (per 1 mg/dL, unstandardized coefficient β = -2.892; 95% CI, -5.066 to -0.717; p = 0.010) and ∆LF/HF (per 1 mg/dL, unstandardized coefficient β = -0.165; 95% CI, -0.291 to -0.038; p = 0.011). Hyperuricemia contributed to lesser HF% and LF/HF increase after HD in the non-diabetic patients, reflecting a state of impaired sympatho-vagal equilibrium in non-diabetic HD patients with hyperuricemia. Lowering UA levels may have the potential to improve increased HRV in non-diabetic HD patients.
Keywords: heart rate variability change before and after hemodialysis; hemodialysis; non-diabetes; uric acid.