Hyperuricaemia as an independent factor for the metabolic syndrome in a sub-Saharan African population
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A total of 448 black South African volunteers aged ≥15 years were studied to assess the risk factor pattern of the metabolic syndrome defined by IDF criteria using factor analysis, and its association with insulin resistance and hyperuricaemia, in a sub-Saharan African population with different levels of urbanisation. Subjects were stratified in three groups representing different levels of urbanisation in rural and urban areas. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was low and did not differ across the three different groups. In the study group as a whole, five risk factors were identified in the following sequence: obesity, hypertension, hyperuricaemia-hypertriglyceridaemia, hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia. Subjects with hyperuricaemia but not with insulin resistance exhibited an increased risk to develop the metabolic syndrome. Based on these results, the authors conclude that hyperuricaemia is an additional component of the metabolic syndrome in sub-Saharan Africans, and recommend that it should be given more attention when evaluating the metabolic syndrome phenotype in sub-Saharan Africans.
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