ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1635746
Lifestyle factors and hyperuricemia risk: A prospective cohort study of 14,635 participants examining the protective role of daily stair climbing
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wuha City Polytechnnic, Wuhan, China
- 2Nanchang Normal College of Applied Technology, Nanchang, China
- 3Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
- 4Yangzhou University, Yangzhu, China
- 5Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
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Background: This study aimed to explore the association between daily stair climbing and the risk of hyperuricemia, and to investigate the potential mediating role of blood lipid biomarkers levels in this association.This study is a prospective cohort study from the UK Biobank, including 14,635 participants. Participants were categorized based on their self-reported daily stair climbing habits and the presence of hyperuricemia, which was defined as serum uric acid concentration > 420 μmol/L for men and > 360 μmol/L for women. Blood lipid biomarkers levels were assessed as potential mediators. We used a mediation analysis framework to estimate the direct and indirect effects of daily stair climbing on hyperuricemia risk. All analyses were conducted using R studio version 4.2.3.Statistical significance was defined as a two-sided P < 0.05.Results: Overall, Compared with the no stair climbing group, with full adjustment, we observed a significant negative correlation between participants climbing 160 to 200 steps of stairs daily and hyperuricemia, the HRs were 0.70 (95% CI: 0.51-0.95, P = 0.024). Mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect effect of stair climbing (160-200 steps/day) on the risk of hyperuricemia, mediated through high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels, with mediation proportions 27.6% and 21.8%, respectively (P < 0.001).Daily stair climbing is associated with a reduced risk of hyperuricemia, and this relationship may be partially mediated by alterations in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These findings suggest that promoting daily physical activity, such as stair climbing, may be an effective strategy in managing uric acid levels and reducing the risk of hyperuricemia.
Keywords: Stair climbing, Uric Acid, blood lipid biomarkers, prospective cohort study, the UK Biobank
Received: 28 May 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yin, Luo, Huang, Jiang, Wang and Qi. 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:
Yahai Wang, Nanchang Normal College of Applied Technology, Nanchang, China
Haixia Qi, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
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