Is serum uric acid-to-HDL cholesterol ratio elevation associated with diabetic kidney injury?

Diabetic kidney injury (DKI) is a serious microvascular complicationof type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Novel markers are being developedto make a timely diagnosis of this complication. Uric Acid to HDLratio (UHR) was reported to be associated with inflammatory andmetabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetesmellitus, thyroiditis, and nonalcoholic hepatosteatosis, recently. Inthe present study, we aimed to show the diagnostic role of UHR indiabetic kidney injury (DKI), a condition characterized with chronicand low-grade inflammation.We retrospectively analyzed data of 287 patients who already had T2D Min outpatient clinics of our institution. The study population was divided into two groups according to the presence of DKI. General characteristics and laboratory data, including UHR levels, of the diabetic subjects with DKI were compared to those of patients without DKI.The median UHR of the diabetic patients with DKI group (0,13 (0,06-0,33)) was significantly elevated compared to the UHR of diabetic patients without DKI (0,11 (0,04-0,34)) (p < 0.001). Median UHR was significantly and positively correlated with UACR (r=0.14, p=0.02), serum creatinine (r=0.18, p=0.002), and HbA1c (r=0.28, p<0.001) levels. There was also a significant inverse correlation between UHR and GFR (r=-0.19, p=0.001) values. Logistic regression analysis confirmed that a 0.1 point increase in UHR increases DKI odds by 2.3 times. UHR was also correlated with serum creatinine, GFR, and UACR, which are important signs for DKI.In conclusion, we think that UHR could be a diagnostic tool indiabetic kidney injury according to the preliminary results of the present study. UHR has an independent predictive role in DKI, and ithas significant correlation with other markers of kidney functions, therefore, we suggest routine evaluation of UHR in patients with DKIalong with other markers such as serum creatinine, GFR, and UACR.