In this issue of Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia , Zhu et al. report an association between uric acid and the presence of pre-hypertension or hypertension in a cross-sectional study done in a population in North China, bringing about, once more, a possible role of uric acid in the determination of cardiovascular disease. In the study, the authors call our attention to the possibility of a relationship even though the measured uric acid serum level is relatively low as compared to what is referred to as normal in several Western populations, which presents a cutoff value of ≥7.0 mg/dL for men and ≥6.3 mg/dL for women in the United States and also so considered, a cutoff value of ≥7.0 mg/dL for men and ≥ 6.0 mg/dL for women in a Brazilian population of healthy individuals aged 20 to 55, in Rio de Janeiro, whereas in their the cut off values were ≥4.75 mg/dL and ≥4.04 mg/dL for men and women, respectively.

In workers from the Company of Generation and Distribution of Energy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from both sexes, aged predominantly between 50 and 59, the mean uric acid level was 4.7±1.3 mg/dL.

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