Does elevated serum uric acid (SUA) increase the risk of cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients?
Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis · 2020 · PMID 33485730 · DOI 10.1016/j.numecd.2020.11.017
Higher serum uric acid levels are linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular death in hemodialysis patients.
The question
Does elevated serum uric acid (SUA) increase the risk of cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients?
What they tested
The meta-analysis aimed to determine if higher SUA values are a risk factor for cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients, given inconsistent results from previous studies.
How they did it
A meta-analysis was conducted by searching Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane library up to August 31, 2020, for longitudinal studies investigating the association between elevated SUA and cardiovascular or all-cause mortality risk in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Pooled adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. Ten studies with 264,571 hemodialysis patients were included.
What they found
Patients with the highest SUA levels had a decreased risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.59-0.87) compared to those with the lowest SUA, after adjusting for confounders. For every 1 mg/dl increase in SUA, the overall risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality decreased by 6% (HR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.90-0.99) and 9% (HR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.89-0.94), respectively.
| All-cause mortality risk decrease | 6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular mortality risk decrease | 9 |
For each 1 mg/dl increase in serum uric acid, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased by 6% and cardiovascular mortality decreased by 9%.
What it means
Elevated SUA levels are strongly and independently associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients.
Limitations
The study suggests that more designed studies, especially randomized controlled trials, are needed to definitively determine if high SUA levels are an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients.
The paper at a glance
| Title | Elevated serum uric acid and risk of cardiovascular or all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis |
| Year | 2020 |
| PMID | 33485730 ↗ |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.numecd.2020.11.017 ↗ |
| Topic | Cardiovascular & vascular aging |
Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗
Cite this page
These citations point at this summary. To cite the original paper with its full author list, use the PubMed record or doi.org.
Magellan Longevity. (2026). Does elevated serum uric acid (SUA) increase the risk of cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients? [Plain-English summary of Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2020, PMID 33485730, DOI 10.1016/j.numecd.2020.11.017]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/d33485730.html@misc{magellan_d33485730,
title = {Does elevated serum uric acid (SUA) increase the risk of cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients?},
author = {{Magellan Longevity}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/d33485730.html}},
note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 33485730; DOI 10.1016/j.numecd.2020.11.017; Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2020. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO},
urldate = {2026-08-11}
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