Edible mushroom consumption and incident hyperuricemia: results from the TCLSIH cohort study

Abstract

Background: Basic studies have found that xanthine oxidase inhibitors extracted from mushrooms have inhibitory effects on hyperuricemia. However, the association between mushroom consumption and hyperuricemia is unknown in humans. Objective: We therefore designed a large-scale cohort study to examine whether mushroom consumption is a protective factor for developing hyperuricemia in adults. Methods: This prospective cohort study investigated 19 830 participants (mean age: 39.4 years; and 9906 [50.0%] men) who were free of hyperuricemia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at the baseline. Mushroom consumption was measured at the baseline using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Hyperuricemia is defined as serum uric acid levels >420 μmol L⁻¹ in men and >350 μmol L⁻¹ in women. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the association of mushroom consumption with incident hyperuricemia. Restricted cubic spline regression was used to estimate the dose–response relationship between mushroom consumption and risk of hyperuricemia. Results: A total of 4260 first incident cases of hyperuricemia occurred during 61 421 person-years of follow-up (median follow-up of 4.2 years). After adjusting for demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, dietary intake, and inflammatory markers, the multivariable hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident hyperuricemia were 1.00(reference) for <1.76 g per 1000 kcal per day, 0.93(0.86, 1.01) for 1.76–2.84 g per 1000 kcal per day, 0.93(0.85, 1.01) for 2.85–5.52 g per 1000 kcal per day, and 0.88 (0.80, 0.96) for >5.52 g per 1000 kcal per day, respectively (P for trend = 0.007). Conclusions: This population-based prospective cohort study has firstly demonstrated that higher mushroom consumption is significantly associated with lower incidence of hyperuricemia among general adults.