Association of serum uric acid and risk of hypertension in adults: a prospective study of Kailuan Corporation cohort

Whether hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for hypertension in adults is still under debate. To determine the association between serum uric acid and risk of hypertension in the Chinese population, we conducted a prospective study using the “Kailuan Corporation cohort.” A total of 39,233 adult subjects with available data on serum uric acid were enrolled from 2006 to 2007. Subjects with established hypertension were excluded and were then grouped based on the gender and baseline quartile serum uric acid into F1–4 for women and M1–4 for men with F1 and M1 being the lowest quartiles. Incidence of newly described primary hypertension was reevaluated in 2010–2011. The median (interquantile range) baseline uric acid (UA) was 290 (243–344) μmol/L in men and 230 (194–274) μmol/L in women. During a 4-year follow-up period, 12,844 subjects (31.31 %) were newly diagnosed with hypertension. The incidence of hypertension was 14.36, 16.57, 19.06, and 22.35 % in F1 to F4 and 33.64, 33.97, 36.54, and 40.74 % in M1 to M4, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratios (ORs) of incident hypertension were 1.17 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.00–1.37, P = 0.055], 1.24 (95 % CI 1.06–1.45, P = 0.009), and 1.20 (95 % CI 1.02–1.41, P = 0.027) in F2 to F4 compared to the F1 and 0.98 (95 % CI 0.91–1.05, P = 0.534), 1.05 (95 % CI 0.98–1.13, P = 0.190), and 1.13 (95 % CI 1.05–1.22, P = 0.002) in M2 to M4 compared to the M1. Elevated level of serum uric acid is associated with an increased risk of hypertension in adults.