Title: Relationship between seaweeds consumption and hyperuricemia in general adults: A Population-based Study from the TCLSIH Cohort Study.

Background Seaweeds have numerous biologically active ingredients, such as polysaccharides, polyphenols, and carotenoids, that are beneficial to human health. Although these benefits might be related to the synthesis, secretion, or reabsorption of uric acid, no studies have explored the relationship between seaweeds cconsumption and hyperuricemia (HUA) in the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether seaweeds consumption is related to HUA in a large-scale adult population. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 32,365 adults (17,328 men and 15,037 women) in Tianjin, China. Frequency of seaweeds consumption was assessed by a validated self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid levels ≥7.0mg/dL in men and ≥6mg/dL in women. The association between seaweeds consumption and HUA was assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. Restricted cubic spline functions were used for non-linearity tests. Results The prevalence of HUA in men and women was 21.17% and 5.93% respectively. After adjustments for potential confounding factors, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for HUA across seaweed consumption (g/1000kcal per day) were 1.00 (reference) for level 1, 0.91 (0.81, 1.02) for level 2; 0.90 (0.81, 1.01) for level 3; 0.86 (0.78, 0.97) for level 4 in men and 0.90 (0.73, 1.10) for level 2; 0.82 (0.67, 1.00) for level 3; 0.84 (0.68, 1.03) for level 4 in women, respectively. Conclusions A negative correlation between seaweeds consumption and HUA in males but not in females was observed. Further studies are needed to explore the causal relationship.