Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Uric acid as a predictor of weight gain and cardiometabolic health in the Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP) study

International Journal of Obesity volume 46, pages 1556–1559 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Young adulthood is often a period of substantial weight gain increasing risk for obesity and cardiometabolic disease. Uric acid (UA), a clinical marker of oxidative stress, is associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction in established CVD, type 2 diabetes, and CKD. Yet, few trials have examined UA as a predictor of cardiometabolic risk in young, healthy populations, particularly in the context of weight gain prevention intervention. The purpose of this ancillary study was to examine UA in the Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP), a randomized, controlled trial of weight gain prevention strategies in young healthy adults. UA was examined as a predictor of weight and cardiometabolic outcomes over 6 years; the impact of weight gain prevention interventions on UA was also examined. We found that higher baseline UA was a significant predictor of less favorable BMI, triglycerides, HDL, glucose, insulin, and HOMA, independent of age, sex, baseline weight, baseline level of the outcome variable, and weight gain prevention intervention. Additionally, ≥1% weight loss was associated with lower UA. UA is a promising biomarker for future weight gain and cardiometabolic risk in young adults that may respond to weight gain prevention.

Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01183689

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Velho S, Paccaud F, Waeber G, Vollenweider P, Marques-Vidal P. Metabolically healthy obesity: different prevalences using different criteria. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010;64:1043–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Alberti G, Zimmet P, Shaw J, Bloomgarden Z, Kaufman F, Silink M. Type 2 diabetes in the young: the evolving epidemic: the international diabetes federation consensus workshop. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:1798–811.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Grygiel-Górniak B, Mosor M, Marcinkowska J, Przysławski J, Nowak J. Uric acid and obesity-related phenotypes in postmenopausal women. Mol Cell Biochem. 2018;443:111–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. El Ridi R, Tallima H. Physiological functions and pathogenic potential of uric acid: a review. J Adv Res. 2017;8:487–93.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Yeo C, Kaushal S, Lim B, Syn N, Oo AM, Rao J, et al. Impact of bariatric surgery on serum uric acid levels and the incidence of gout—a meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2019;20:1759–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Dulloo AG, Montani JP. Pathways from dieting to weight regain, to obesity and to the metabolic syndrome: an overview. Obes Rev. 2015;16:1–6. Suppl 1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wing RR, Tate D, Espeland M, Gorin A, LaRose JG, Robichaud EF, et al. Weight gain prevention in young adults: design of the study of novel approaches to weight gain prevention (SNAP) randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wing RR, Tate DF, Espeland MA, Lewis CE, LaRose JG, Gorin AA, et al. Innovative self-regulation strategies to reduce weight gain in young adults: the Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP) randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176:755–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Jakobsen JC, Gluud C, Wetterslev J, Winkel P. When and how should multiple imputation be used for handling missing data in randomised clinical trials—a practical guide with flowcharts. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2017;17:162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cicero AF, Rosticci M, Tocci G, Bacchelli S, Urso R, D’Addato S, et al. Serum uric acid and other short-term predictors of electrocardiographic alterations in the Brisighella Heart Study cohort. Eur. J. Intern Med. 2015;26:255–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cicero AFG, Fogacci F, Giovannini M, Grandi E, Rosticci M, D’Addato S, et al. Serum uric acid predicts incident metabolic syndrome in the elderly in an analysis of the Brisighella Heart Study. Sci Rep. 2018;8:11529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang ML, Gao YX, Wang X, Chang H, Huang GW. Serum uric acid and appropriate cutoff value for prediction of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adults. J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2013;52:38–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Soltani Z, Rasheed K, Kapusta DR, Reisin E. Potential role of uric acid in metabolic syndrome, hypertension, kidney injury, and cardiovascular diseases: is it time for reappraisal? Curr Hypertens Rep. 2013;15:175–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Dawson J, Wyss A. Chicken or the egg? Hyperuricemia, insulin resistance, and hypertension. Hypertension. 2017;70:698–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Juraschek SP, McAdams-Demarco M, Miller ER, Gelber AC, Maynard JW, Pankow JS, et al. Temporal relationship between uric acid concentration and risk of diabetes in a community-based study population. Am J Epidemiol. 2014;179:684–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Wing RR, Espeland MA, Tate DF, Perdue LH, Bahnson J, Polzien K, et al. Changes in cardiovascular risk factors over 6 years in young adults in a randomized trial of weight gain prevention. Obesity. 2020;28:2323–30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Battelli MG, Bortolotti M, Polito L, Bolognesi A. The role of xanthine oxidoreductase and uric acid in metabolic syndrome. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2018;1864:2557–65.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Saito H, Tanaka K, Iwasaki T, Oda A, Watanabe S, Kanno M, et al. Xanthine oxidase inhibitors are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Sci Rep. 2021;11:1380.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Ying H, Yuan H, Tang X, Guo W, Jiang R, Jiang C. Impact of serum uric acid lowering and contemporary uric acid-lowering therapies on cardiovascular outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2021;8:641062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Virdis A, Masi S, Casiglia E, Tikhonoff V, Cicero AFG, Ungar A, et al. Identification of the uric acid thresholds predicting an increased total and cardiovascular mortality over 20 years. Hypertension. 2020;75:302–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Lauren M. L. Corso, Bruce E. Blanchard & Jeanne M. McCaffery

  2. The Miriam Hospital and Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University, Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, Providence, RI, USA

    Rena R. Wing

  3. University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Deborah F. Tate

  4. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Mark A. Espeland

Authors
  1. Lauren M. L. Corso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rena R. Wing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Deborah F. Tate
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mark A. Espeland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bruce E. Blanchard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jeanne M. McCaffery
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

LMLC performed UA assays, analyses, and wrote the manuscript. JM reviewed assay results, conducted analyses, and wrote the manuscript. RW, DFT, MAE, and BEB reviewed analyses, and/or edited manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lauren M. L. Corso.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

RW is on the scientific advisory board for NOOM. No other authors report conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Corso, L.M.L., Wing, R.R., Tate, D.F. et al. Uric acid as a predictor of weight gain and cardiometabolic health in the Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP) study. Int J Obes 46, 1556–1559 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-022-01131-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-022-01131-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links