SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE ASSOCIATION OF SERUM URIC ACID LEVELS AND ATHEROMATOSIS OF CAROTID ARTERIES IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Objective: Investigate a possible association between the serum uric acid and fibrinogen levels and the atheromatosis of the carotid arteries of hypertensive patients Design and method: We studied 1296 hypertensive patients of median age: 61 (51-69) years, without any known cardiovascular disease and with mean office systolic/diastolic arterial blood pressure (S/DBPo): 145.5±19.55/89.8±12.5 mmHg, mean office heart rate (HRo): 74.4±9.9 bpm, median (BMI): 27.5 (25-30) kg/m2 a The levels of serum uric acid (SUA), fibrinogen were recorded and eGFR was also calculated according MDRD formula Equation. All patients underwent a carotid ultrasound test. Intima-media thickness was measured (IMT) and the presence of atheromatus plaqueThe study population was separated in two groups, according the IMT value and the existence or not of atheromatous plaque. Group A: IMT> 0.9 mm or/and existence of atheromatous plaque (72,1%) Group B:IMT< 0.9 mm and without any atheromatous plaque (27,9%) (t-test between the two groupsp<0.001). ANOVA statistic method Results: Significantly more patients in the total study population had carotid atheromatous plaques (72,1% vs 27,9% p<0.001) without any statistically significant differences in the prevalence of atheromatous plaques between male and female (Pearson chi –Square NS (0,274). There were significantly higher levels of SUA in Group A vs Group B (5,4±1,6 vs 5,0±1,6 mg/dl p=0.001) as also between the male and female population (SUA men: 5,9±1,5 vs 5,8±1,4 by groups NS, women: 4,9±1,6 vs 4,3±1,4 p <0.001). As far as the fibrinogen levels are concerned, there were significantly higher levels in groupA vs group B (361,6±99,7vs 332,7±84,6 mg/dl p=0.001), in the sex-specific association of fibrinogen and increased carotid intima-media thickness or the existence of carotid plaque(fibrinogen men:341,5±91,4 vs 321,7±77,5 by groups NS, women: fibrinogen 377,3±103,2 vs 341,7±89,3 p =0.002), the significance remained only in women. There was also a significant correlation between SUA and fibrinogen (r=0.206, p<0,001), a significant regression between SUA and fibrinogen (p<0,001) Conclusions: In hypertensives treated or not, with high proportion of carotid atheromatosis, the existence of IMT, was associated with higher SUA and fibrinogen levels, in women, indicating their importance in the atheromatous status of hypertensive patients