Uric Acid: A Missing Link Between Hypertensive Pregnancy Disorders and Future Cardiovascular Disease?

Abstract

Objective To determine whether women who had a hypertensive pregnancy disorder (HPD) have elevated uric acid concentrations decades after pregnancy, when compared to women who had normotensive pregnancies. Patients and Methods The Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy study measured uric acid concentrations in Hispanic (30%), non-Hispanic white (28%), and non-Hispanic black (42%) women (60 ± 10 years of age). This cross-sectional study was conducted between July 1, 2000 and December 31, 2004. Hispanic participants were recruited from families with high rates of diabetes, whereas non-Hispanic participants were recruited from families with high rates of hypertension. This analysis compared uric acid concentrations in women with a history of normotensive (n=1,846) or hypertensive (n=408) pregnancies by logistic regression. Results Women who had a HPD had higher uric acid concentrations (Median: 5.7 vs. 5.3 mg/dL, P<.001) and were more likely to have uric acid concentrations above 5.5 mg/dl (54.4% vs. 42.4%, P=.001) than women who had normotensive pregnancies. These differences persisted after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, co-morbidities and other factors that affect uric acid concentrations. A family-based subgroup analysis comparing uric acid concentrations in women who had a HPD (n=308) and their parous sisters who had normotensive pregnancies (n=250) gave similar results (Median uric acid concentrations: 5.7 vs. 5.2 mg/dl, P=0.02; Proportion of women with uric acid >5.5 mg/dl: 54.0% vs. 40.3%, P<.001). Conclusion Decades after pregnancy, women who had a HPD have higher uric acid concentrations. This effect does not appear to be explained by a familial predisposition to elevated uric acid concentrations.

Maternal Cardiovascular Risk Assessment 3-to-11 Years Postpartum in Relation to Previous Occurrence of Pregnancy-Related Complications

“…Our data are also consistent to a certain extent with the data resulting from several previous studies [23,31,40], where significantly higher serum levels of uric acid were found in patients with a prior exposure to hypertensive pregnancy disorders or PE only. Hyperuricemia is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors and cardiovascular diseases, often being a predictor of incident events [41,42,43].…”

Uric acid and obesity-related phenotypes in postmenopausal women

“…This model shows that the group characterized by overweight and hyperglycemia has 4 times increased risk of UA higher than 4 mg/dL, but after adding serum triglycerides risk augments 7 times. In the literature, high serum concentration of UA is considered as a risk factor of CVDs or metabolic disorders; however, higher concentrations of this parameter have been considered [3–7, 37, 38]. Thus, overweight women with hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia have a higher chance of increasing UA level.…”

Functional and Structural Characterization of Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase from Kluyveromyces lactis and Its Potential Applications in Reducing Purine Content in Food

“…Hyperuricemia and gout are increasing worldwide and are affecting 1 to 2% of the adult population [ 72 – 74 ]. Hyperuricemia is also associated with atrial stiffness, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertensive pregnancy disorders [ 75 , 76 ], and can be controlled by medication and change in lifestyle and eating habits [ 30 , 31 , 77 ]. Majority of the popular and energy-rich food items contain moderate to high purine content [ 77 ].…”