Association of Serum Uric Acid with cardio-metabolic risk factors and metabolic syndrome in seafarers working on tankers

BACKGROUND: There is still controversy over the clinical interpretation of the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and serum uric acid (SUA) levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the association of SUA levels with MetS and other cardio-metabolic risk factors (CMRF) in seafarers working on tankers. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 and included 234 male seafarers working on tankers. The participants were divided into three groups based on the tertiles of SUA. The report from of the National Committee of Obesity was used to define the MetS. The relationship between SUA, CMRF and MetS adjusted for age, educational level, job history, shift work, smoking and BMI was assessed by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The subjects were aged 36.0 ± 10.3 years (mean ± SD). A notable upward trend was observed in mean weight, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) as tertiles of SUA increased (P < 0.001). In all models of the logistic regression analyses, the odds ratio (OR) of high TG for participants in the 3rd tertile of SUA was four times higher than that for participants in the 1st tertile of SUA (P < 0.001). The odds ratio of high TC and the SUA levels increased, so that the odds ratio of high TC for participants in the 2nd tertile was 2.47 (95% CI: 1.10–5.53) (P < 0.05) as compared with that for participants in the 1st tertile. Significant association was observed between MetS and the levels of SUA; 6.10 (95% CI: 1.77–20.94) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings revealed that SUA levels were associated with MetS, high TG and high TC. Therefore, it is recommended that clinical attention should be given to symptoms related to elevated SUA - being one of the most important remediable risk factors for MetS - in the annual medical examinations of seafarers.