Visceral adipose accumulation increased the risk of hyperuricemia among middle-aged and elderly adults: a population-based study

Background The role of body fat distribution in uric acid metabolism is still ambiguity. We aimed to investigate the independent contribution of visceral adipose measured by visceral adiposity index and lipid accumulation product and liver fat assessed by fatty liver index to the risk of hyperuricemia. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 1284 participants aged ≥ 40 years old recruited from communities in Zhonglou district, Changzhou. Each participant completed a standard questionnaire, and provided blood samples for biochemical measurements. Visceral adiposity index, fatty liver index and lipid accumulation product were calculated by simple anthropometric and functional parameters. Hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid ≥ 420 μmol/l for males and ≥ 360 μmol/l for females. Results The prevalence of hyperuricemia was 15.9% and gradually increased across tertiles of adiposity-based indices. The visceral adipose-based measurements (visceral adiposity index, fatty liver index, lipid accumulation product) had better power to discriminate hyperuricemia than body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and neck circumference, and visceral adiposity index exhibited the highest power, with the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) of 0.662 (0.636–0.688). Multivariate logistic regression found 1.49-fold, 2.21-fold and 2.12-fold increased risk of hyperuricemia with 1-unit increment of visceral adiposity index, fatty liver index, and lipid accumulation product, respectively. Compared to tertile 1, the odds ratios of hyperuricemia for the second tertile and the third tertile of visceral adiposity index were 1.57 (1.00–2.50) and 3.11 (1.96–4.94), those of fatty liver index were 1.64 (1.05–2.68) and 3.58 (1.94–6.01), and those of lipid accumulation product were 1.93 (1.19–3.15) and 3.53 (2.05–6.09), respectively. However, no significant associations of BMI, waist circumference and neck circumference with hyperuricemia were observed. Conclusions Visceral adipose accumulation increased the risk of hyperuricemia, independently of BMI, waist circumference and neck circumference, among middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults.