Hyperuricaemia - A Potential Indicator to Diagnose the Risk of Essential Hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension has turned out to be the major cause of morbidity among the life style diseases. Studies in human and animal models have documented an independent association of hyperuricaemia with early hypertension. Hyperuricaemia is a modifiable and treatable risk factor, which might reduce the incidence of Essential Hypertension (EHT). AIM: Hence, the present study was designed to find out the association between hyperuricaemia and EHT in the population of Southern Rajasthan as there is a dearth of literature on Indian scenario especially in Rajasthan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, case control study was carried out in the Department of Physiology among 125 subjects; aged 20-50 years of both sexes, which were chosen randomly from Medicine OPD and healthy volunteers. The subjects were broadly divided into two groups (A & B); group A comprised of newly diagnosed cases of EHT (n=75) and group B had healthy normotensive controls (n=50). S. Uric Acid (SUA), Serum creatinine and fasting blood glucose levels were estimated by using the respective kit methods on semi auto-analyser in both groups. S. creatinine and fasting blood glucose levels were estimated to exclude renal disorder and diabetes mellitus respectively. The data was analysed by student t-test, chi-square test and Odds Ratio. RESULTS: The mean SUA level in group A was significantly higher than group B (6.56 ± 0.76, 4.91 ± 0.97 mg/dl, p<0.001 respectively). 37.33% of patients had hyperuricaemia in group A as compared to 14% in group B (p<0.01, OR=3.66) indicating that a hyperuricaemic individual has 3.66 times more risk of developing EHT as compared to the one with lower value of SUA. CONCLUSION: The mean SUA level and the frequency of hyperuricaemia was significantly higher in newly diagnosed cases of EHT as compared to healthy controls. Hence, SUA could be useful as a potential indicator for early risk detection of development of EHT.