SERUM URIC ACID IS INCREASED IN NORMOTENSIVE OBESE CHILDREN WITH A PARENTAL HYSTORY OF HYPERTENSION

Introduction: Increased uric acid levels are associated with new-onset hypertension in children. Nevertheless, controversy remains concerning a direct causative role of serum uric acid (SUA) in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension (EH). Aim: To determine if normotensive obese children and adolescent offspring of adults with EH show SUA levels different than those of paediatric subjects in whom there is no family history of EH. Methods: Fifty-nine obese normotensive children and adolescents, aged between 8 and 17 years, attending for metabolic assessment the Paediatric Diabetes Unit, Children’s Hospital ‘‘G. Di Cristina’’, and for cardiovascular evaluation the ESH Hypertension excellence center of the University of Palermo, underwent routine blood chemistry and oral glucose tolerance test with glucose and insulin determinations. All subjects had BP determinations below the 90th percentile and had no previous history of elevated BP. Results: There were 14 subjects whose parents were both normotensive (FH-), and the remaining 45 subjects whose one or both parents were hypertensive (FH?). FH? did not differ regarding age, sex distribution, BP values, body mass index, waist circumference, serum glucose levels when compared to FH-. Among the metabolic parameters assessed, only SUA was significantly higher in FH? than in FH- (p = 0.007). This difference held after adjusting for age, gender and BMI (p = 0.01) (Figure 2). Conclusions: Our results, showing higher values of SUA in normotensive obese children and adolescents with parental history of EH, seem to support the hypothesis that increased SUA may precede and determine the development of hypertension.