Association Between Serum Uric Acid Levels and Gallbladder Cholesterol Polyps: A Retrospective Case-Control Study

Objective: Cholesterol polyps in the gallbladder are the most common benign gallbladder polyps and are closely associated with metabolic abnormalities. Although serum uric acid (SUA) plays a role in metabolic syndrome and cholesterol-related biliary tract diseases, its relationship with cholesterol polyps in the gallbladder remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between SUA levels and histopathologically confirmed cholesterol polyps in the gallbladder.Materials and Methods: This retrospective case-control study included 87 patients: 44 with histopathologically confirmed gallbladder cholesterol polyps and 43 controls who underwent cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder disease without gallbladder polyps. Demographic, clinical, and biochemical parameters were compared between the groups. Hyperuricemia was defined as SUA >5.7 mg/dL. Crude and age-adjusted binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the associations of SUA and hyperuricemia with cholesterol polyp status. Associations between SUA levels and polyp number and maximum polyp diameter were also evaluated.Results: Patients with cholesterol polyps were significantly younger than controls (44.07 ± 10.64 vs. 59.23 ± 14.16 years; P<0.001). SUA levels did not differ significantly between the cholesterol polyp and control groups [median (IQR): 4.80 (4.08–5.65) vs. 4.70 (4.00–5.30) mg/dL; P=0.693]. Hyperuricemia was present in 25.0% and 20.9% of patients, respectively (P=0.800). After adjustment for age, neither SUA (adjusted OR: 1.19 per 1 mg/dL increase, 95% CI: 0.80–1.76; P=0.398) nor hyperuricemia (adjusted OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 0.43–5.29; P=0.520) was significantly associated with cholesterol polyp status. SUA levels were also not significantly associated with polyp number (P=0.164) or maximum polyp diameter (<5 vs. ≥5 mm; P=0.452).Conclusion: In this study, no statistically significant association was detected between SUA levels or hyperuricemia and histopathologically confirmed gallbladder cholesterol polyps, including in age-adjusted analyses. SUA levels were also not significantly associated with polyp number or maximum polyp diameter. These findings suggest that serum uric acid is unlikely to function as a useful biomarker for cholesterol polyp formation. Prospective studies with larger sample sizes are needed to elucidate the potential role of serum uric acid in the pathogenesis of gallbladder cholesterol polyps.