Associations between Serum Uric Acid and the Remission of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Chinese Males

Abstract

Epidemiological studies suggest that higher serum uric acid (sUA) level is significantly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development. However, little information is available on the relationships between sUA and NAFLD remission. In the present study, 841 NAFLD males (30-75 years) were recruited from a Chinese prospective cohort study (PMMJS) and followed up for five years. The baseline sUA levels of participants were categorized into four quartiles: 191 μmol/L≤ sUA ≤ 347 μmol/L, 347 μmol/L < sUA ≤ 392 μmol/L, 392 μmol/L < sUA ≤ 441 μmol/L and 441 μmol/L<SUA≤676 μmol/L. As the results show, participants with elevated sUA levels at baseline were significantly associated with the decreased rate of NAFLD remission at the end of study (p<0.0001). After adjustment, RR (95%CI) for remitted NAFLD comparing Q1 to Q3 vs Q4 of sUA were 2.95 (1.49-5.83), 2.40 (1.22-4.73) and 1.39 (0.67-2.86), respectively. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis showed these significant associations were not affected even after exclusion of participants who had hypertension, diabetes mellitus, MetS and hyperlipidemia. Additionally, the presence of the lowest quartile of sUA levels was still significantly associated with remitted NAFLD when the study population was stratified according to the smoking, and the median values of age, ALT, AST, serum creatinine, HDL-C and LDL-C. Therefore, our present study extended the previous findings and suggested that modulation of sUA levels may attenuate the progression of NAFLD.