The Association between Uric Acid and Chronic Kidney Disease in Korean Men: A 4-Year Follow-up Study

There have been many studies between serum uric acid (UA) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, as far as we know, little research has been done to examine the prospective association between serum UA and development of CKD in Korean men. This prospective cohort study was performed using 18,778 men who participated in a health checkup program both on January, 2005 and on December, 2009. CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min per 1.73 m(2). The odds ratio (OR) from binary logistic regressions for the development of CKD was determined with respect to the quintiles grouping based on serum UA. During 74,821.4 person-years of follow-up, 110 men were found to develop CKD. The OR for the development of CKD increased as the quintiles for baseline serum UA levels increased from the first to fifth quintiles (1.00 vs 1.22, 1.19, 2.59, and 3.03, respectively, p for linear trend < 0.001) after adjusting for covariates. The adjusted OR comparing those participants with hyperuricemia ( ≥ 7.0 mg/dL) to those with normouricemia ( < 7.0 mg/dL) was 1.96 (1.28-2.99). Elevated serum UA levels were independently associated with increased likelihood for the development of CKD in Korean men (IRB number: KBC10034).