Metabolic transitions at menopause: In post-menopausal women the increase in serum uric acid correlates with abdominal adiposity as assessed by DXA

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate any associations between parameters of body fat mass distribution and levels of serum uric acid (sUA), a well-documented cardiovascular risk factor, among non-obese women ranging from pre- to post-menopausal status. METHODS: In this cross-sectional population-based study we assessed body fat distribution by dual-energy-X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and sUA levels in 101 pre- and 134 post-menopausal non-obese apparently healthy women. RESULTS: Multivariate stepwise regression analysis revealed that sUA was independently associated to the indicators of overall fatness, i.e. body mass index (β=0.339, p<0.001) and DXA-assessed total and percentage body fat (β=0.366, p<0.001 and β=0.412, p<0.001, respectively), only among post-menopausal women. Within this sample subset, trunk (i.e. central) fat mass emerged as a strong predictor of sUA (β=0.408, p<0.001), after taking the potential confounders (including body mass index) into account. CONCLUSION: Central fat accumulation was found to be independently associated with higher sUA levels among non-obese women in post- but not among those in pre-menopause.