Uric acid in men with acute stroke

Abstract Higher levels of uric acid in men as compared to women can be a reason behind greater incidence of stroke in men. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the levels of uric acid in men with acute stroke and correlate with stroke severity.For the purpose of the study ,50 male patients of acute stroke admitted to the hospital and 50 age matched healthy controls were included in the study. Routine biochemical parameters including fasting blood glucose, uric acid and lipid profile were assessed in serum obtained from 5 ml of fasting blood sample. Patients with kidney or liver diseases, malignancies, diuretic use, alcohol intake, on iron or antioxidant therapy were excluded from the study. Initial stroke severity was measured by the National Institute of Health Stroke (NIHS) scale. It was found that , among the 50 cases, 38(76%) had ischemic stroke and 12(24%) had hemorrhagic stroke. Serum uric acid levels were very significantly higher in cases (p<0.001) than controls. There was strong positive correlation between uric acid levels and initial stroke severity (p=0.006, r=0.386). Also, serum uric acid showed a statistically significant correlation with fasting blood glucose, TG and VLDL and an inverse association with HDL in both cases and controls. The conclusion drawn was that the significantly higher levels of uric acid in men with stroke and the positive association of uric acid with stroke severity suggest a possible role of uric acid as a risk factor for stroke in men