최재경,최재일1

건국대학교 의학전문대학원 가정의학과, 세명대학교 생활체육학부1

Background: Hyperuricemia is related to renal disease. However, normal uric acid levels have been seen with
renal disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between normal uric acid levels and
chronic kidney disease.
Methods: Our subjects included 3,011 patients, 50 years and older, who underwent health examinations at the
health promotion center at a university hospital in Seoul from July 2006 to June 2008. We categorized normal
serum uric acid levels below 7 mg/dL into four quartiles and assessed the association between chronic kidney
disease and increasing uric acid levels.
Results : After adjusting for age, gender, education level, income, smoking status, at-risk drinking, regular exercise, obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, odds ratios of chronic kidney disease
for the quartiles of normal serum uric acid levels were 1.53 (95% CI, 1.00-2.34), 1.97 (95% CI, 1.27-3.08), 3.92
(95% CI, 2.46-6.25), compared with the bottom quartile (less than 4.20 mg/dL); and this showed a positive
trend (P<0.001).
Conclusions : We observed that even within the normal serum uric acid range, increasing levels of uric acid was
associated with the risk of chronic kidney disease. Follow-up studies are needed to confirm whether rising,
though normal, levels of uric acid, per se, is an early risk for chronic kidney disease and to determine whether
its reduction would prevent the development of the disease.
Korean J Health Promot 2010;10(1):16-21

Key Words: Normal, Serum uric acid, Chronic kidney disease