Serum sialic acid in a random sample of the general population.

BACKGROUND The serum sialic acid (SA) concentration has been reported to be a potentially useful but nonspecific disease marker. We wanted to study which factors influence SA concentration in a well-characterized healthy population. METHODS SA was determined in 97 women and 96 men with a colorimetric Warren method. RESULTS The mean +/- SD concentrations of SA were 634 +/- 109 (95% confidence interval, 612-656) and 630 +/- 106 (95% confidence interval, 608-651) mg/L for women and men, respectively. The serum SA showed a significant positive association with body mass index and with systolic and diastolic blood pressure among both women and men. SA also correlated significantly with the use of contraceptive pills and age among women and with smoking among men. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that SA does not increase with age in men but appears to increase with female menopause. The strong positive association with blood pressure may explain why SA predicts cardiovascular mortality.