SERUM URIC ACID IS INCREASED INNORMOTENSIVE OBESE CHILDREN WITHA PARENTAL HYSTORY OF HYPERTENSION

Introduction: Increased uric acid levels are associatedwith new-onset hypertension in children. Nevertheless,controversy remains concerning a direct causative role ofserum uric acid (SUA) in the pathogenesis of essentialhypertension (EH).Aim: To determine if normotensive obese children andadolescent offspring of adults with EH show SUA levelsdifferent than those of paediatric subjects in whom there isno family history of EH.Methods: Fifty-nine obese normotensive children and adolescents,aged between 8 and 17 years, attending for metabolicassessment the Paediatric Diabetes Unit, Children’sHospital ‘‘G. Di Cristina’’, and for cardiovascular evaluationthe ESH Hypertension excellence center of the University ofPalermo, underwent routine blood chemistry and oral glucosetolerance test with glucose and insulin determinations. Allsubjects had BP determinations below the 90th percentile andhad no previous history of elevated BP.Results: There were 14 subjects whose parents were bothnormotensive (FH-), and the remaining 45 subjects whoseone or both parents were hypertensive (FH?). FH? did notdiffer regarding age, sex distribution, BP values, body massindex, waist circumference, serum glucose levels whencompared to FH-. Among the metabolic parametersassessed, only SUA was significantly higher in FH? thanin FH- (p = 0.007). This difference held after adjustingfor age, gender and BMI (p = 0.01) (Figure 2).Conclusions: Our results, showing higher values of SUAin normotensive obese children and adolescents with parentalhistory of EH, seem to support the hypothesis thatincreased SUA may precede and determine the developmentof hypertension.