Uric acid and inflammatory markers.

Aims—The role of uric acid (UA) in the process of atherosclerosis and atherotrombosis is controversial. Epidemiological studies have recently shown that UA may be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and a negative prognostic marker for mortality in subjects with pre-existing heart failure. Methods and results—We evaluate a relationship between UA levels and several inflammatory markers in 957 subjects, free of severe renal failure, from a representative Italian cohort of personsaged 65–95. Plasma levels of UA and white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil count, C-reactive protein, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), interleukin-6 (IL-6), soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6r), interleukin-18 (IL-18), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured. Complete information on potential confounders was collected using standard methods. WBC (P = 0.0001), neutrophils (P < 0.0001), C-reactive protein (P < 0.0001), IL-1ra (P < 0.0001), IL-6 (P = 0.0004), sIL-6r (P = 0.002), IL-18 (P < 0.0001), TNF-α (P = 0.0008), and the percentage of subjects with abnormally high levels of C-reactive protein (P = 0.004) and IL-6 (P =