Decreased uric acid levels correlate with poor outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients, but not in cerebral hemorrhage patients.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between uric acid and stroke prognosis is ambiguous. Some studies have explored this relationship in acute stroke but have different results. In this study, we explored the relationship between uric acid levels and 1-year outcomes and vascular events of acute ischemic stroke patients and cerebral hemorrhage patients.

METHODS: In all, 1452 continued first, acute ischemic stroke patients and 380 continued cerebral hemorrhage patients were admitted to our hospitals. Serum uric acid concentrations were measured in 1351 ischemic stroke patients and 380 cerebral hemorrhage patients at admission. We evaluated the relationship between uric acid levels and outcomes (modified Rankin scale [mRS] > 2, all-cause death, vascular events, stroke recurrent) at 14 days, 90 days, and 1 year after stroke onset.

RESULTS: The median uric acid concentration was 303.0 μmol/L in ischemic stroke patients and 269 μmol/L in cerebral hemorrhage patients. In univariate analysis, uric acid levels were not correlated with outcomes in cerebral hemorrhage patients. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to show that lower serum uric acid levels independently predicted poor functional outcomes (mRS >2) at 1 year after ischemic stroke onset (odds ratio [OR] = .335, 95% confidence interval [CI]: .164-.684, P = .003). Also, lower serum uric acid levels were independently correlated with vascular events in the first year in ischemic stroke patients. By multiple cox proportional hazards analysis, we obtained data which reveal that serum uric acid levels were not correlated with all-cause death (OR = .992, 95% CI: .683-1.443, P = .969) in ischemic stroke patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Serum uric acid may be neuroprotective in acute ischemic stroke patients.