The Correlation between Metabolic Syndrome and Urinary pH in Adult Korean Men Who Visited a Health Promotion Center

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Low urinary pH is a risk factor for uric acid stones, and acidic urine has been described as a renal manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. We evaluated the association between metabolic syndrome and urinary pH in adult Korean men who visited a health promotion center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2004 to 2008, a total of 18,513 adult men who visited our health promotion center were enrolled in this study. The relation between urinary pH and various parameters associated with the metabolic syndrome were evaluated. RESULTS: The average age was 45.6 years (range, 18-95 years), and 4987 men (26.9%) were classified as having the metabolic syndrome. The mean urinary pH of the metabolic syndrome group was 5.91, which was significantly lower than that of the normal group (6.08). In univariate and multivariate analysis, body mass index, serum triglyceride, and blood sugar were negatively correlated with urinary pH (p or =25 kg/m2), hypertriglyceridemia (> or =150 mg/dl), high fasting glucose (> or =110 mg/dl), and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (<45 mg/dl) were the significant factors that predicted low urinary pH (< or =5.5). CONCLUSIONS: Metabolic syndrome was related to lower urinary pH in ostensively healthy adult Korean men. Further studies are needed to elucidate the exact mechanism responsible for the lower urinary pH in individuals with the metabolic syndrome.