Habitual Coffee Consumption Reduces Gout Risk: Study

Key Findings of the day:

• They habitual coffee consumption was significantly and inversely associated with gout (odds ratio [OR] = 0.29) in random-effect IVW (Phet = 5.5 × 10−19).
• Upon excluding pleiotropic instruments, they noted that the analysis of the remaining instruments also supported the findings that coffee was inversely associated with gout (OR = 0.75) without heterogeneity (Phet = 0.39).
• They further observed no significant differences between coffee consumption and SUA levels regarding ancestry (Phet = 2.0 × 10−16 in Japanese and Phet = 6.8 × 10−8 in Europeans).
• Upon multivariable MR analysis, they further confirmed that increased coffee consumption significantly reduced gout risk, even after adjusting for SUA levels (OR = 0.50).

The authors concluded, "With pleiotropy taken into account, our MR analyses revealed that coffee consumption can causally reduce gout risk, and that it may reduce gout risk independently of SUA levels. Our study suggests the presence of biological pathways involved in gout pathogenesis other than SUA levels and should contribute to the development of preventive medicine against gout."

For further information:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr2.11425

Keywords: coffee consumption, serum uric acid, Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, gout risk, pleiotropic effect, habitual coffee intake, heterogeneity, American College of Rheumatology