Serum uric acid levels in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a meta-analysis

The pathogenic mechanism of ALS remains unclear. However, increasing evidence has indicated that uric acid (UA) may play a protective role in the pathogenesis of ALS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serum UA levels and ALS. A comprehensive literature search in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library was conducted up to 31st August, 2017, using keywords. A random-effects model or fixed-effects model was used to calculate the pooled estimate according to the inter-group heterogeneity. Finally, we indentified 8 case-control and 3 cohort studies. The results indicated that patients with ALS had significant decreased levels of serum UA compared to healthy controls (standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.72, 95% CI [−0.98,−0.46], P