Reference Intervals for Serum Uric Acid in Sub-Saharan African Adults: Case of Cameroon: Intervalles de Référence de l'Acide Urique Sérique chez les Adultes d'Afrique Subsaharienne : Cas du Cameroun

Abstract

Introduction. Serum uric acid (SUA) is the main biomarker of altered purine metabolism, and its measurement is necessary to appreciate several conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, gout, diabetes and hypertension. However, the reference ranges for SUA remain unknown in Cameroon. Our aim was to assess the reference intervals of SUA among Cameroonian adults and to analyze their agreement with international societies. Methods. We leaded a cross-sectional study from November 2019 to June 2020 in Prima Laboratory of Yaoundé on 292 volunteers aged 18 to 65 years without clinical and biological exclusion criteria. Serum uric acid have performed by colorimetric enzymatic method on Cobas 6000®. Reference values assessed at 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles using STATA 15 and SPSS 26. Results. On the 292 recorded, finally, the sex ratio was 0.67M/F with a mean age was 31 years old in both sex nearly. The mean of SUA was significant different from gender (43.2 vs 57 mg/L) with p<0.0001 and from BMI (46.5 for normal BMI vs 50 mg/L for overweight without dyslipidemia) with p=0.008. The reference intervals were 32.6-81.1 mg/L for male, 21.8-64.7 mg/L for female, 25.6-68 mg/L for normal BMI and 28-85 mg/L for overweight without dyslipidemia. Conclusion. These findings were significant in accordance with the American College of Rheumatology. Gender and BMI influenced reference intervals and our results were higher than Caucasians data.