Background and Objectives: Early vascular aging determines a more rapid course of age-related arterial changes. It may be induced by a proinflammatory state, caused by hyperuricemia and metabolic syndrome and their interrelationship. However, the impact of serum uric acid (SUA) on early arterial stiffening and vascular function remains uncertain. Materials and Methods: A total of 696 participants (439 women aged 50–65 and 257 men aged 40–55) from the Lithuanian High Cardiovascular Risk (LitHiR) primary prevention program were enrolled in the study. They underwent anthropometric measurements and laboratory testing along with arterial parameters’ evaluation. Quality carotid stiffness (QCS), carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (crPWV), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) were registered. Results: We found that hyperuricemia was significantly associated with inflammation, registered by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in both sexes. A very weak but significant association was observed between cfPWV and SUA in men and in women, while, after adjusting for risk factors, it remained significant only in women. A positive, weak, but significant association was also observed for QCS, both right and left in women. No relationship was observed between crPWV, FMD, CIMT, and SUA.
Background and Objectives: Metabolic syndrome is defined as three or more of five components; therefore, there are 16 possible different clusters of metabolic risk factors that are under one diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. In this study, we evaluated the different clusters of metabolic syndrome (MetS) across serum uric acid (SUA) quartiles and analyzed the association of these clusters with SUA levels, respectively, in both men and women. Materials and Methods: A total of 606 subjects were recruited to a cross-sectional study from the ongoing Lithuanian High Cardiovascular Risk primary prevention program (LitHiR). All of the study subjects were diagnosed with MetS (according to the 2005 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III MetS definition). Results: In the middle-aged population of patients with MetS living in Lithuania, a high proportion of hyperuricaemia was detected—35.5% (95% Cl 31.7% to 39.4%). For women possessing all five MetS components, the chances of having hyperuricaemia are 2.807 higher than for women with three risk factors (p < 0.001). However, men do not have a statistically significantly higher chance of having hyperuricaemia, depending on the number of MetS components in our population. Using multivariable models, the statistically significant chance of having hyperuricaemia was observed only in women possessing all five MetS components (OR = 2.386, p < 0.0001), compared to any other of 15 MetS clusters. After adjustment for age and sex, the chance of having hyperuricaemia for individuals with the cluster of all five MetS components, compared to any other of 15 MetS clusters, remained (OR = 1.982, p = 0.001). Also, a lower probability (OR = 0.653, p = 0.039) of having hyperuricaemia was observed for individuals having the combination of abnormal plasma glucose, blood pressure, and waist circumference. Conclusions: Patients with the clustering of all five metabolic syndrome components are at higher risk for having hyperuricaemia than patients with any other combination of MetS clusters. This risk is even higher for women. It could be beneficial for patients presented with all five MetS components to be screened for SUA concentration in the primary CVD prevention program.