This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Objective Western studies suggest that beverages may affect serum urate (SU) levels but data from Asian populations are scarce. We evaluated the associations between beverages and SU levels in Singapore Chinese. Methods The study population consisted of 483 subjects from the Singapore Chinese Health Study cohort, aged 45-74 years, recruited between 1993 and 1998. Lifestyle factors, medical histories and diet were collected through in-person interviews. SU and other biomarkers were measured from blood collected between 1994 and 1996. Results Mean age was 57.6 years and 44% were men. The geometric mean of SU was 321 μmol/L (range 157-719 μmol/L). Mean SU levels increased with alcohol consumption (P for trend = 0.024). The mean SU level of daily alcohol drinkers was 42.6 μmol/L higher than that of non-drinkers. Similarly, increasing frequency of green tea intake was associated with rising SU levels. The highest mean SU level was observed in daily green tea drinkers (difference of 25.0 μmol/L) relative to non-drinkers (P for trend = 0.009). Compared to non-drinkers, daily alcohol drinkers had an almost 5-fold increase in association with hyperuricaemia [odds ratio (OR) = 4.83; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10-21.23) while daily green tea drinkers had a 2-fold increase in association with hyperuricaemia (OR=2.12, 95% CI=1.03-4.36). The present study did not show elevated levels of SU in individuals who consumed black tea, coffee, fruit juice or soda. Conclusions Alcohol consumption increases SU levels. The finding that daily drinking of green tea is associated with hyperuricaemia needs validation in future studies.

The aim of this study is to compare the clinical features, mortality and causes of death of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients in four large multicentre registries. Methods: Patients seen at least once in the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study (ASCS) (n = 1714), the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group (CSRG) (n = 1628), the European League Against Rheumatism Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) Network (n = 13,996) and the Systemic Sclerosis Cohort in Singapore (SCORE) (n = 500) before August 2016 were included. Clinical manifestations and survival in cohorts and disease subtypes were compared. Results: Among 17,838 SSc patients, most were female (86.1%), Caucasian (84.6%) and had the limited cutaneous subtype (lcSSc) (65.0%). The anti-centromere autoantibody was the most prevalent (37.6%). More patients in SCORE had the diffuse subtype (dcSSc) (49.3%) and Scl-70 autoantibody (38.8%) (p<0.001). Patients with dcSSc were more likely to be younger and male (p<0.001) and have shorter disease duration, more calcinosis, tendon friction rubs and synovitis (all p<0.001). Interstitial lung disease (ILD) occurred more frequently in dcSSc but prevalence of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was similar in both subtypes. More deaths occurred among SCORE patients who had the shortest median survival (p<0.001). The survival of patients with early disease, males and those with dcSSc was shorter than that of patients with prevalent disease, female gender and lcSSc, respectively. SSc-related complications accounted for more than 50% of deaths, with PAH and ILD being the most common. Conclusions: This meta-cohort of SSc patients, the largest reported to date, provides insights into the impact of race and sex on disease manifestations and survival and confirms the early mortality in this disease.