Relationship between serum vitamin C and serum uric acid in people with different BMIs: results from the NHANES 2017–2018 and Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the association of overweight/obesity and serum vitamin C (serum VC) with serum uric acid (SUA) and to assess causality using Mendelian randomization (MR).Methods4,772 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2017–2018 were included in this study. Multivariate linear regression, variance inflation factor and quantile regression were used to analyze the relationships between overweight/obesity and serum VC and SUA levels. Secondly, Mendelian randomization (MR) was utilized to mitigate bias and prevent reverse causality in the observational study. Genetic variants associated with obesity (N = 13,848), vitamin C levels (N = 64,979) and serum uric acid levels (N = 343,836) were sourced from the most extensive genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The primary analytical method employed was inverse variance weighted (IVW).ResultsBased on the observational study, BMI was positively associated with SUA (β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.07, p < 0.001) and serum VC was negatively associated with SUA (β = −0.14, 95% CI: −0.23 to −0.04, p = 0.005). In individuals with overweight/obesity (BMI > =25), the negative effects of serum VC on SUA enhanced with increasing serum VC. High serum VC level (Q4 level, above 1.19 mg/dL) reduced SUA (β = −0.30, 95% CI: −0.47 to −0.14, p < 0.001) in individuals with overweight/obesity compared to low serum VC level (Q1 level, below 0.54 mg/dL). IVW-MR analysis revealed a significant association between SUA levels and genetically elevated levels of VC (β = −0.03, 95% CI: −0.06 to −0.00, p = 0.029) and obesity (β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.07, p < 0.001).ConclusionCross-sectional observational analysis revealed that BMI exhibited a positive correlation with SUA levels and that serum VC was negatively correlated with SUA levels; moreover, moderate serum VC can reduce SUA, especially in individuals with overweight/obesity. There was evidence indicating a causal effect of VC and obesity on SUA. It highlights the importance of VC in the management of SUA levels, particularly in overweight/obese individuals. The findings might be helpful for the management of high SUA levels.