Differences in the association between alcoholic beverage type and serum urate levels using standardized ethanol content

Differences have been observed in the association of serum urate levels with consumption of different types of alcoholic beverages. However, previous studies have not standardized the unit of intake for ethanol content, and only limited types of alcoholic beverages have been evaluated. Therefore, researchers examined differences in the association of serum urate levels with various types of alcoholic beverages when their intakes are standardised for ethanol content.
A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using data from participants aged 20 years or older who completed a medical checkup at St Luke’s International University in Japan between October 1, 2012, and October 31, 2021. The study included 78 153 participants with a mean (SD) age of 47.6 (12.8) years. 46.7%) were men and 53.3% were women. A total of 45,755 participants (58.5%) were regular alcohol drinkers. Participant’s demographics, blood test results, and lifestyle questionnaire data were used in the analysis. Serum urate levels were measured during the medical checkup. The beverage unit was standardized to 1 standard drink, which contained 20 g of ethanol.
Consistent associations of serum urate levels with alcohol consumption were observed in the beer-dominant group, with β coefficients (for 1 standard drink per day) of 0.14 mg/dL (95% CI, 0.11-0.17 mg/dL) for men and 0.23 mg/dL (95% CI, 0.20-0.26 mg/dL) for women. A moderate increase in serum urate levels was observed in the wine-dominant group compared with a modest and non-significant increase in the sake-dominant group, with β coefficients (for 1 standard drink per day) for the latter group of 0.05 mg/dL (95% CI, -0.01 to 0.10) for men and 0.04 mg/dL (95% CI, -0.05 to 0.14 mg/dL) for women. Restricted cubic splines showed different patterns in associations of serum urate levels with ethanol intake by dominant alcoholic beverages.
The results of the study suggest that the extent of the association of serum urate levels with alcohol intake was different for alcoholic beverages even after ethanol content was standardized. Higher beer consumption among men and women was consistently associated with higher serum urate levels, whereas sake was not associated with changes in serum urate levels. Therefore, alcoholic beverage type, in addition to ethanol content, should be considered as a factor contributing to hyperuricemia, the researchers say.
Source: Fukui S, Okada M, Rahman M, Matsui H, Shiraishi A, Nakai T, Tamaki H, Kishimoto M, Hasegawa H, Matsuda T, Yoshida K. Differences in the Association Between Alcoholic Beverage Type and Serum Urate Levels Using Standardized Ethanol Content. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e233398.