A Mendelian Randomization Study of Circulating Uric Acid and Type 2 Diabetes

Ivonne Sluijs, Michael V. Holmes, Yvonne T. van der Schouw, Joline W J Beulens, Folkert W. Asselbergs, José María Huerta, Tom M. Palmer, Larraitz Arriola, Beverley Balkau, Aurelio Barricarte, Heiner Boeing, Françoise Clavel-Chapelon, Guy Fagherazzi, Paul W. Franks, Diana Gavrila, Rudolf Kaaks, Kay T ee Khaw, Tilman Kühn, Esther Molina-Montes, Lotte M axild MortensenPeter M. Nilsson, Kim Overvad, Domenico Palli, Salvatore Panico, J. Ramón Quirós, Olov Rolandsson, Carlotta Sacerdote, Núria Sala, Julie A. Schmidt, Robert A. Scott, Sabina Sieri, Nadia Slimani, Annemieke M W Spijkerman, Anne Tjonneland, Ruth C. Travis, Rosario Tumino, Daphne L. van der A, Stephen J. Sharp, Nita G. Forouhi, Claudia Langenberg, Elio Riboli, Nicholas J. Wareham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the causal effect of circulating uric acid concentrations on type 2 diabetes risk. A Mendelian randomization study was performed using a genetic score with 24 uric acid-associated loci. We used data of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-InterAct case-cohort study, comprising 24,265 individuals of European ancestry from eight European countries. During a mean (SD) follow-up of 10 (4) years, 10,576 verified incident case subjects with type 2 diabetes were ascertained. Higher uric acid was associated with a higher diabetes risk after adjustment for confounders, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.20 (95% CI 1.11, 1.30) per 59.48 µmol/L (1 mg/dL) uric acid. The genetic score raised uric acid by 17 µmol/L (95% CI 15, 18) per SD increase and explained 4% of uric acid variation. By using the genetic score to estimate the unconfounded effect, we found that a 59.48 µmol/L higher uric acid concentration did not have a causal effect on diabetes (HR 1.01 [95% CI 0.87, 1.16]). Including data from the Diabetes Genetics Replication And Meta-analysis (DIAGRAM) consortium, increasing our dataset to 41,508 case subjects with diabetes, the summary odds ratio estimate was 0.99 (95% CI 0.92, 1.06). In conclusion, our study does not support a causal effect of circulating uric acid on diabetes risk. Uric acid-lowering therapies may therefore not be beneficial in reducing diabetes risk.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3028-3036
Number of pages9
JournalDiabetes
Volume64
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2015

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Mendelian Randomization Study of Circulating Uric Acid and Type 2 Diabetes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this