Introduction: Metabolic syndrome and hyperuricemia are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Objective: To assess the association between uric acid and metabolic syndrome. Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study enrolled 203 volunteers, aged ≥ 20 years, who presented to a primary care clinic that provides care for a state university staff and their families. Hyperuricemia was defined as a blood uric acid level of ≥ 7.0 mg/dL in men and ≥ 6.0 mg/dL in women. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII) criteria. The association between these variables was assessed using Pearson´s correlation and multivariate regression. Results: The mean age was 52 ± 13.5 years. Sixty percent of the subjects were female. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in subjects with and without hyperuricemia was 49% and 33%, respectively. There was a statistically significant association between the uric acid level and metabolic syndrome in the gender-adjusted multivariate analysis (odds ratio=1.5, 95% confidence intervals=1.2 to 1.9). We identified hyperglycemia as a predictor for hyperuricemia (odds ratio=e 3.0, 95% confidence interval=1.4 to 6.3). Conclusion: The results showed that high concentrations of uric acid are associated with metabolic syndrome and suggest that the presence of fasting hyperglycemia is strongly associated with hyperuricemia in women.
