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(Hypertension. 2005;45:34.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Scientific Contributions

Childhood Uric Acid Predicts Adult Blood Pressure

The Bogalusa Heart Study

Arnold B. Alper, Jr; Wei Chen; Lillian Yau; Sathanur R. Srinivasan; Gerald S. Berenson; L. Lee Hamm

From the Department of Internal Medicine (A.B.A., L.L.H.), Section of Nephrology and Hypertension and the Tulane Hypertension and Renal Center of Excellence, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, La; Departments of Epidemiology (W.C., S.R.S., G.S.B.) and Biostatistics (L.Y.), Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, La; and Tulane Center for Cardiovascular Health (G.S.B.), Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, La.

Correspondence to Arnold B. Alper Jr, MD, Section of Nephrology and Hypertension, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 1430 Tulane Ave, SL-45, New Orleans, LA 70112. E-mail aalper2{at}tulane.edu

Uric acid has been proposed as an important risk factor in the development of primary hypertension in humans. However, limited information is available linking childhood uric acid levels and blood pressure levels in adulthood. This study examined 334 whites and 243 blacks enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study as children aged 5 to 17 years and as adults aged 18 to 35 years. The average follow-up period was 12 years. Childhood uric acid was significantly correlated with childhood and adult blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic. In a multivariate regression analysis, adjusting for age, sex, race, childhood body mass index, childhood uric acid levels, and change in levels of uric acid were significant predictors of adult diastolic blood pressure, whereas change in uric acid was a significant predictor of adult systolic blood pressures. In conclusion, elevated childhood serum uric acid levels are associated with increased blood pressure beginning in childhood and higher blood pressure levels that persist into adulthood, in males and females, whites and blacks, suggesting that early elevations in serum uric acid levels may play a key role in the development of human hypertension.

Key Words: uric acid • blood pressure • children

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