Age-related cognitive impairment can occur many years before the onset of the clinical symptoms of dementia. Uric acid (UA), a metabolite of purine-rich foods, has been shown to be positively associated with improved cognitive function, but such association remains controversial. Moreover, most of the previous studies investigating the association included elderly participants with memory-related diseases. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating whether serum UA (sUA) is associated with cognitive performance in healthy middle-aged individuals. We conducted a cross-sectional study on a cohort of middle-aged individuals (40–60 years old) who participated in the Qatar Biobank. The participants had no memory-related diseases, schizophrenia, stroke, or brain damage. They were divided according to sUA level into a normal group (< 360 μmol/L) and a high group (≥ 360 μmol/L), and underwent an assessment of cognitive function using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Two cognitive function domains were assessed: (a) speed of reaction/reaction time and (b) short-term visual memory. The median age of the 931 participants included in the study was 48.0 years (IQR: 44.0, 53.0), of which 47.6% were male. Adjusted multivariable linear regression analyses showed that higher sUA is associated with poorer performance on the visual memory domain of cognitive function (β = − 6.87, 95% CI − 11.65 to − 2.10, P = 0.005), but not on the speed of reaction domain (β = − 55.16, 95% CI − 190.63 to 80.30, P = 0.424). Our findings support previous studies suggesting an inverse association between high sUA levels and cognitive function in elderly and extend the evidence for such a role to middle-aged participants. Further prospective studies are warranted to investigate the relationship between UA and cognition.

Introduction: The association between raised serum uric acid and cognitive dysfunction remains a debated issue. In the present study, we investigated whether serum uric acid is associated with cognitive performance in a cohort of healthy individuals in Qatar. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on a cohort of individuals aged 40 to 80 years old, without a diagnosis of dementia, schizophrenia, and stroke, who participated in Qatar Biobank. Cognitive performance was assessed using the CANTAB s paired episodic memory test and reaction time test. The participants were divided into two groups, one group with a normal serum uric acid level (<350 μmol/l) and the other with high serum uric acid levels (>350 μmol/l). Two multivariable linear regression models were applied to determine the association between serum uric acid and memory test performance score and between serum uric acid and reaction time test performance score. Results: A total of 996 individuals with median age 48.0 years, IQR: (44.5, 54.0), of which 48.2% were male, were included. After adjusted multivariable linear regression, high serum uric acid levels were strongly associated with poor performance in the paired episodic memory test (beta -6.25, 95%CI -10.65 to -1.84, p= 0.006). However, after adjusted multivariable linear regression, we found no significant association between high serum uric acid and performance in the reaction time test (beta -13.24, 95%CI -138.77 to 112.29, p= 0.836). Discussion/ Conclusion: In a cohort of healthy individuals in Qatar, high serum uric acid levels are associated with worse performance in visual memory and new learning domains of cognitive function but no significant effect on processing speed function.