AMSTERDAM—Serum uric acid (UA) levels may be a clinically useful nutritional markers and outcome predictor in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD), researchers reported at the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association annual congress.
Ilia Beberashvili, MD, of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Zerifin, Israel, and colleagues presented evidence that SUA is associated with most surrogates of body composition, muscle function, inflammation, and health-related quality of life in MHD patients.
The evidence comes from a 2-year prospective observational study that included 261 MHD patients with a mean age of 68.6 years. UA correlated positively with laboratory nutritional markers (albumin and creatinine) as well as body composition parameters (hand-grip strength), and geriatric nutritional risk index. UA correlated negatively with malnutrition-inflammation score and interleukin-6, an inflammatory marker.
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In addition, patients in the highest quartile of UA had significantly higher total Short Form-36 (SF-36) scores and SF-36 physical functioning and physical role function scores.
Each 1 mg/dL increment in baseline UA level was associated with a 21% and 40% decreased likelihood of a first hospitalization and first cardiovascular (CV) event, respectively. It also was associated with a 41% and 47% decreased likelihood of all-cause mortality and CV death, respectively, in adjusted analyses.
“UA is a simple, easily performed and inexpensive laboratory test that can be useful in conjunction with serum albumin in quickly identifying MHD patients with nutritional risks and those needing early nutritional interventions,” the authors concluded.
