Association between dairy product consumption and hyperuricemia in an elderly population with metabolic syndrome

Background and aims: The prevalence of hyperuricemia has increased substantially in recent decades. It has been suggested that it is an independent risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and cardiovascular disease. Results from epidemiological studies conducted in different study populations have suggested that high consumption of dairy products is associated with a lower risk of developing hyperuricemia. However, this association is still unclear. The aim of the present study is to explore the association of the consumption of total dairy products and their subtypes with the risk of hyperuricemia in an elderly Mediterranean population with MetS. Methods and results: Baseline cross-sectional analyses were conducted on 6329 men/women (mean age 65 years) with overweight/obesity and MetS from the PREDIMED-Plus cohort. Dairy consumption was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressions were fitted to analyze the association of quartiles of consumption of total dairy products and their subtypes with the prevalence of hyperuricemia. Participants in the upper quartile of the consumption of total dairy products (multiadjusted prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.75–0.94; P-trend 0.02), low-fat dairy products (PR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70–0.89; P-trend <0.001), total milk (PR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.73–0.90; P-trend<0.001), low-fat milk (PR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.72–0.89; P-trend<0.001, respectively), low-fat yogurt (PR = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80–0.98; P-trend 0.051), and cheese (PR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.77–0.96; P-trend 0.003) presented a lower prevalence of hyperuricemia. Whole-fat dairy, fermented dairy, and yogurt consumption were not associated with hyperuricemia. Conclusions: High consumption of total dairy products, total milk, low-fat dairy products, low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt, and cheese is associated with a lower risk of hyperuricemia.