Association of Serum Uric Acid with Indices of Insulin Resistance: Proposal of a New Model with Reference to Gender Differences

Renjiao Liu,1 Zhouhuiling Li,2 Yanju Zhang,2 Meiyang Du,2 Xincheng Wang,3 Shi Zhang,3 Chunjun Li1,3 1Graduate School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 3Health Management Center, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Nankai University Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Chunjun Li, Health Management Center, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Nankai University Affiliated Hospital, No. 190 of Jieyuan Road, Hongqiao District, Tianjin, 300121, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-22-13752090635, Email [email protected]: Insulin resistance (IR) is a key feature of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Previous studies have linked elevated serum uric acid (SUA) to an increased risk of T2D.Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between SUA and IR. At the same time, the correlation between New model and SUA compared with other IR alternatives was compared, so as to provide a simple and effective new indicator for early detection and prediction of IR risk and early prevention of T2D.Methods: The first cohort was the Discovery Cohort, which included 318 obese patients. And the second cohort was the Verification Cohort, which included a total of 4333 subjects who underwent a routine health checkup at our hospital. Spearman correlation analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were used to discuss the correlation between SUA and IR.Results: Regardless of sex, fasting insulin (FINS) and IR replacement markers increased with SUA (P< 0.001). In both cohorts, SUA was associated with IR alternatives, especially with New model, and differed between men and women in all correlation analyses. After adjusting for confounding factors, SUA was still associated with IR (P< 0.001).Conclusion: The correlation between SUA and IR was significantly stronger in women than in men. And the correlation between SUA and New model is stronger than other IR replacement models. However, the causal relationship between SUA and IR has not been clearly established.Keywords: insulin resistance, serum uric acid, HDL-c, triglycerides