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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Hepatobiliary Diseases
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1487974

High serum uric acid levels are associated with increased prevalence of gallstones in adult women: A cross-sectional study based on NHANES

Provisionally accepted
Guozheng Lv Guozheng Lv 1,2Decai Wang Decai Wang 3Yu Huang Yu Huang 1*Ruizi Shi Ruizi Shi 1Chuan Qin Chuan Qin 1*Xi Chen Xi Chen 1*Xintao Zeng Xintao Zeng 1Hua Luo Hua Luo 1*Pei Yang Pei Yang 1*Sirui Chen Sirui Chen 1*Jianjun Wang Jianjun Wang 1*
  • 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
  • 2 Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430000, China
  • 3 Department of Urology, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: We investigated the association between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and gallstone (GS) prevalence in adult women.Methods: Participants' information were taken from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2017-2020). Logistic regression analysis and dose-response curve were used to assess the association between SUA levels and the prevalence of GS in adult women. Subgroup analyses were performed to investigate associations between SUA levels and age, ethnicity, body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes.Results: A total of 600 participants self-reported a history of GS. After adjusting for confounding, the prevalence of GS in adult women increased by 14% for every 1 mg/dL increase in SUA (odds ratio [OR]: 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06, 1.22). Testing SUA as a categorical variable for sensitivity analyses indicated a 1.6-fold increase in the prevalence of GS in tertile 3 (OR=1.60, 95% CI: 1.25, 2.04) compared to tertile 1. Dose-response curves showed a nonlinear correlation between SUA levels and the prevalence of GS. Subgroup analyses indicated that SUA level was associated with an increased prevalence of GS in most subgroups, although subtle differences existed.SUA was positively and non-linearly associated with the prevalence of GS in adult females. Despite the inability to clarify the causal relationship between them, our results remain interesting.

    Keywords: Gallstones, Serum uric acid, NHANES, Women, Cross-sectional study

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Lv, Wang, Huang, Shi, Qin, Chen, Zeng, Luo, Yang, Chen and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yu Huang, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
    Chuan Qin, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
    Xi Chen, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
    Hua Luo, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
    Pei Yang, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
    Sirui Chen, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China
    Jianjun Wang, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang, 621000, China, Mianyang, China

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