Association between nutrient patterns and hyperuricemia: mediation analysis involving obesity indicators in the NHANES

BACKGROUND: Diet has long been hypothesized to play an important role in hyperuricemia, and weight gain is a factor that is strongly associated with the rise in serum urate. We aimed to clarify the mediating role of obesity in the relationship between diet and hyperuricemia and to determine whether a weight-loss diet is an effective way to prevent hyperuricemia. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analysed representative samples of United States (n = 20,081; NHANES 2007–2016) adults. Nutrient patterns were derived with two methods: principal component analysis (PCA) and reduced rank regression (RRR) with obesity. Logistic regression and multivariable linear regression were applied to analyse the association between nutrient patterns in obesity and hyperuricemia. Mediation analyses were used to determine whether four obesity indicators, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), visceral adiposity index (VAI) and lipid accumulation product index (LAP), mediated the relationship between nutrient patterns and hyperuricemia. RESULTS: PCA revealed three nutrient patterns (including “Low energy diet”, “Lower vitamin A, C, K pattern” and “Vitamin B group”), and only Vitamin B group had a total effect on hyperuricemia. RRR revealed one main nutrient pattern associated with obesity, which was characterized by High fat and low vitamin levels and was significantly associated with hyperuricemia. Mediation analysis showed that obesity mostly or even completely mediated the relationship between nutrient patterns and hyperuricemia, especially traditional obesity indicators, which played a key intermediary effect. The proportions of indirect effects for BMI and WC were as high as 53.34 and 59.69, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the direct effect of diet on hyperuricemia is weak, and obesity plays a critical mediating role in the relationship between diet and hyperuricemia, which confirms that a weight-loss diet such as a “Low fat and high vitamin diet” may be useful in preventing hyperuricemia. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14357-5.