ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1635227
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Mechanisms of AKI, the Molecular Biology Mechanisms Underlying the Transition of AKI to AKD/CKD and New Diagnostic TechniquesView all articles
The prognostic value of admission serum uric acid for acute kidney injury: a two-center retrospective analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China
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Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious clinical syndrome, with elevated serum uric acid (SUA) recognized as a potential modifiable risk factor. Nonetheless, the association between reduced SUA and the risk of AKI, along with the modification by kidney function on this association, is not well understood. Methods: All adult patients from Peking University First Hospital (PKUFH) were screened. The primary outcome was AKI during hospitalization. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) was utilized to examine the hypothesized non-linearity between AKI and SUA as a continuous variable. SUA was categorized into six groups and Poisson regression was applied to evaluate the association between SUA groups and AKI with 240-360 μmol/L as reference. Subgroup analysis was conducted in terms of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).Results: Among 62,775 patients enrolled from PKUFH, 1,866 patients developed AKI (3.0%). The RCS plot showed a U-shaped association between SUA and AKI. Compared with reference group, SUA≤180 μmol/L and >480 μmol/L exhibited a 2.17-fold and a 4.86-fold increased risk of AKI in the unadjusted model. After full adjustment, the associated risk of AKI in SUA≤180 μmol/L (RR 1.92, 95% CI 1.57-2.36) and SUA >480 μmol/L (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.03-1.34) was weakened but still demonstrated statistical significance. When stratified by eGFR, the U-shaped risk curve was much less steep in the subgroup with eGFR≤45 mL/min/1.73m².This study reveals a U-shaped association between admission SUA and AKI risk. Kidney function is an important confounder for this association.
Keywords: Acute Kidney Injury, Serum uric acid, Hyperuricemia, Hypouricemia, Estimated glomerular filtration rate
Received: 26 May 2025; Accepted: 05 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Tang, Xu, Wang and Zheng. 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: Xizi Zheng, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China
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