Uric acid and cardiovascular risk: What genes can say

Summmary Background Although the relationship of elevated serum uric acid levels and cardiovascular disease has been established in a great number of studies, the causal relevance of this finding remains ambiguous. An approach to evaluate the causal relevance of biomarkers is to exploit the natural randomised allocation of allelic variation in genes affecting their level, also known as Mendelian randomisation. Aim The aim of this paper is to review the current literature regarding serum uric acid levels and cardiovascular and renal disease risk in Mendelian randomisation studies. Methods PubMed and Scopus databases were searched to retrieve Mendelian studies regarding uric acid, hyperuricaemia and cardiovascular risk. Conclusions Genetic evidence based on conventional and novel Mendelian randomisation approaches suggest a modest, if any, causal effect of serum uric acid concentration on the development of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that further study of uric acid genes is needed in order to elucidate the relationship of serum uric acid levels and cardiovascular disease.