The association between BMI and serum uric acid is partially mediated by gut microbiota

Abstract

Obesity is a risk factor for the development of hyperuricemia, both of which were related to gut microbiota. However, whether alterations in the gut microbiota lie in the pathways mediating obesity’s effects on hyperuricemia is less clear. Body mass index (BMI) and serum uric acid (SUA) were separately important indicators of obesity and hyperuricemia. Our study aims to investigate whether BMI-related gut microbiota characteristics would mediate the association between BMI and SUA levels. A total of 6,280 participants from Guangdong Gut Microbiome Project were included in this study. Stool samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results revealed that BMI was significantly and positively associated with SUA. Meanwhile, BMI was significantly associated with the abundance of 102 gut microbial genera, 16 of which were also significantly associated with SUA. The mediation analysis revealed that the association between BMI and SUA was partially mediated by the abundance of Proteobacteria (proportion mediated: 0.94%, P < 0.05). At the genus level, 25 bacterial genera, including Ralstonia, Oscillospira, Faecalibacterium , etc., could also partially mediate the association of BMI with SUA (the highest proportion is mediated by Ralstonia , proportion mediated: 2.76%, P < 0.05). This study provided evidence for the associations among BMI, gut microbiota, and SUA, and the mediation analysis suggested that the association of BMI with SUA was partially mediated by the gut microbiota. IMPORTANCE Using 16S rRNA sequencing analysis, local interpretable machine learning technique analysis and mediation analysis were used to explore the association between BMI with SUA, and the mediating effects of gut microbial dysbiosis in the association were investigated.

Genetic insights into the gut microbiota, herpes zoster, and postherpetic neuralgia: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study

“…supporting body growth and metabolic functions, and fortifying immune responses against tumors (Kurilshikov et al, 2021;Zhang F. et al, 2023). At present, there are few reports and studies on the gut microbiota and HZ or PHN at home and abroad.…”

“…Herpes zoster (HZ) is a common viral infection that arises from the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (Kim et al, 2021), which is known to remain dormant in the dorsal root ganglion (De Oliveira Gomes et al, 2023). The disease is characterized by the intense inflammation of the affected nerves and skin with a distribution of painful grouped vesicles on an erythematous base (Zhang J. et al, 2023). A population-based study conducted in the United States showed that over 65% of adult patients with HZ were provided with pain medication to alleviate acute herpetic pain (Lin et al, 2019).…”

“…The gut microbiota, i.e., a large number of complex microorganisms in the body gut, has a significant correlation with the development of type 2 diabetes ( Liu et al, 2023 ), autoimmune diseases ( Shao et al, 2023 ), obesity ( Duan et al, 2023 ), and other multiple diseases. Additionally, the complex gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in a wide range of essential physiological processes, encompassing and safeguarding the body against pathogen invasion, fostering the development of a resilient immune system, aiding in digestion and the absorption of nutrients, supporting body growth and metabolic functions, and fortifying immune responses against tumors ( Kurilshikov et al, 2021 ; Zhang F. et al, 2023 ).…”

Microbiota-gut-liver-brain axis and hepatic encephalopathy

“…Intestinal Akkermansia muciniphila exhibited beneficial effects of decreasing serum urate and inhibiting xanthine oxidase in the liver [ 92 ] . Additionally, recent studies have identified that a dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota underlies the pathological association between serum UA and body mass index (BMI) [ 93 ] . UA has been implicated in the pathophysiology of liver damage [ 94 ] and cognitive decline in attention and executive function [ 95 ] .…”

Incidence density of hyperuricemia and association between metabolism-related predisposing risk factors and serum urate in Chinese adults: a cohort study

“…The metabolic factors might be associated with the pathogenesis of hyperuricemia. Some studies have employed multivariable regression models to explore the associations of SU with fasting blood glucose (FBG), blood pressure (BP) or body mass index (BMI) (8)(9)(10). However, most of these studies were cross-sectional studies.…”