Association between serum uric acid levels and depressive symptoms according to menopausal status

The menopause-specific relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and depressive symptoms were not known. We aimed to explore the association between SUA and depressive symptoms stratified by menopausal status. This is a cross-sectional study, a total of 4845 females were enrolled from China health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS) in China. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) were used to measure depressive symptoms. A cut-off score of CES-D ≥ 10 was defined as depression. Multiple regression models were used to assess the relationship between SUA and depression stratified by menopausal status. Overall, SUA was significantly associated with depressive symptoms/depression in post-menopause women (β = −0.39, 95 % CI: −0.60, −0.17) after adjusted potential confounders. Compared with those whose SUA levels were in the first tertile, participants with their SUA in the second (β = −0.76, 95 % CI: −1.30, −0.22) and third tertile (β = −1.24, 95 % CI: −1.80, −0.68) had milder depressive symptoms. However, SUA was not associated with depressive in pre-menopause women (β = 0.1, 95 % CI: −0.25, 0.46). An interaction between menopausal status and SUA on depressive symptoms were found in this study (P = 0.02). Similar results were found for depression. Some potential covariates like diet that could affect SUA levels were not considered in this study. Higher SUA was associated with depressive symptoms/depression in post-menopause women. An interaction between menopausal status and SUA on depressive symptoms were found. SUA was not associated with depressive symptoms/depression in pre-menopause women.