Doppler Ultrasound Study on the Effects of Different Blood Uric Acid Levels on the Carotid Artery Intima-media Thickness in Patients with Gout

Abstract

Objective : Doppler ultrasonography is used to study the effects of different serum uric acid (SUA) levels in primary gout (PG) on the carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) and its risk factors and to provide clinical evidence for early prevention and treatment of systematic gout damage. Methods: We obtained information of 237 patients with PG (intermittent period) and estimated the association between gout and common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCAIMT), carotid plaque formation, and blood flow resistance index (RI)) using binary logistic regression. Results: The CCAIMT of patients with PG was significantly correlated with different SUA levels, age, course of the disease, blood routine laboratory parameters etc ( P < 0.05). The CCAIMT of patients with PG combined with the tophi, secondary hypertension, or diabetes group was significantly different from that in the uncombined group ( P < 0.05). The age, disease course, body mass index (BMI), blood routine indexes, liver function, renal function, and lipid metabolism-related indexes of patients with gout combined with the carotid plaque group and without the carotid plaque group were significantly different ( P < 0.05). Age (OR, 95% CI = 1.136, 1.073-1.202), disease course (OR, 95% CI = 1.236, 1.084-1.410), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (OR, 95% CI= 6.982, 2.460-19.816) were risk factors for CCAIMT of more than 0.0858cm, whereas SUA (OR, 95% CI = 0.994, 0.988-0.999) and Lymphocyte percentage (LY%) (OR, 95% CI = 0.842, 0.723-0.980) were protective factors. Age was a risk factor for carotid plaque (OR, 95% CI = 1.137, 1.071-1.207), and SUA was a protective factor (OR, 95% CI = 0.992, 0.986-0.998). Moreover, secondary hypertension (OR, 95% CI = 3.496, 1.442-8.479), PLT (OR, 95% CI = 1.005, 1.001-1.010), and SUA (OR, 95% CI = 1.003, 1.000-1.005) were risk factors for common carotid artery RI of ≥ 0.7 in patients with gout. Conclusion: Age, disease course, blood routine indexes, renal function, and lipid metabolism of patients with gout with different SUA levels were closely related to carotid intima-media diseases. Age, disease course, and LDL-C were the risk factors for carotid artery intima-media lesions in patients with PG, whereas SUA and LY% might be protective factors.