By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Dec 1, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Clinical Science suggests that uric acid may increase risk of death from all causes in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and coronary artery disease (which is also known as coronary heart disease).

The study led by A Kastrati from Deutsches Herzzentrum, Technische Universität in Munich, Germany and colleagues found patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and coronary artery disease who had high uric acid  were almost 200 percent more likely to die from all causes.

The authors say previous studies on the prognostic role of uric acid in outcomes of type 2 diabetes mellitus are inconsistent, prompting the researchers to conduct the current study in hopes that they may help clarify the association between uric acid and outcomes of diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.

A total of 3,705 patients with diabetes mellitus and angiography-confirmed coronary artery disease were followed for one year and 7.1 percent of patients died from all cause deaths during the follow-up.

The death rate distributed among patients in quartile 1 (lowest uric acid), quartile 2, quartile 3, to quartile 4 (highest uric acid) was 5.1, 4.8, 5.6 and 14.0%, respectively.

The patients whose uric acid was in the highest quartile were 181 percent more likely to die from all causes compared to the remaining three quartiles combined.  After adjustment, the risk increase among patients with highest levels of uric acid was 25%. 

The researchers concluded "in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and confirmed CAD (coronary artery disease), elevated levels of UA (uric acid) predict mortality independently of known cardiovascular risk factors."

C. L. Cox and colleagues published a study in Nutrition and Metabolism that showed overweight and obese men and women with body mass index of 25 to 35 kg/m2 drank fructose sweetened beverages in a dose of 25% energy for 10 weeks produced more fasting uric acid than those drinking glucose sweetened beverages.

It is not just eating fructose that can produce uric acid.  Many foods contain purines that can promote the production of uric acid including beef, pork, poultry, fish and seafood.