Recent interest focuses on urinary renin and angiotensinogen as markers of renal renin-angiotensin system activity. Before concluding that these components are independent markers, we need to exclude that their presence in urine, like that of albumin (a protein of comparable size), is due to (disturbed) glomerular filtration. This review critically discusses their filtration, reabsorption and l...

OBJECTIVES To assess (a) the prevalence of microalbuminuria in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, (b) the association between urinary albumin excretion and disease activity as estimated by the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C reactive protein (CRP), and (c) the association between urinary albumin excretion and treatment with antirheumatic drugs. METHODS Sixty five patients with rheumatoi...

Microalbuminuria is a new tool in the management of patients with diabetes mellitus or hypertension. Microalbuminuria is an easily measured biomarker in a urine sample. Urinary albumin to creatinine ratio in first morning urine sample correlates with 24 hours urinary albumin excretion, but it is easier to obtain, and can identify hypertensive or diabetic patients with high risk for cardiovascul...

BACKGROUND Conventional immunoassays underestimate the urinary albumin concentration because intact albumin in urine exists in two forms, immunoreactive and immunochemically nonreactive. METHODS Urinary albumin concentration measured by HPLC (which measures total albumin, i.e., the sum of immunoreactive albumin + immunochemically nonreactive albumin) or RIA was compared with densitometric ana...

OBJECTIVE Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes. Both elevated urinary albumin excretion and low serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are associated with increased CVD mortality. This raises the possibility of DHEA as a causal intermediate linking urinary albumin excretion to CVD. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METH...

1. Increased urinary albumin excretion is common in patients with essential hypertension and is at least to some extent correlated with prevailing blood pressure levels. However, the generalized vascular dysfunction present in advanced atherosclerotic disease may independently influence this parameter. 2. To evaluate this possibility, we assessed blood pressure, ultrasonographic carotid thickne...

BACKGROUND Serum γ - glutamyltransferase (GGT) is implicated in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Albuminuria is a marker of endothelial damage and correlated with structural and functional integrity of the vasculature. Our objective was to evaluate the association between serum GGT level and prevalence of albuminuria in a Chinese population. MATERIALS AND METHO...

BACKGROUND Statins can cause tubular proteinuria by inhibiting tubular reabsorption of urinary proteins. To distinguish between microalbuminuria originating from glomerular leakage of albumin and tubular microalbuminuria due to statin therapy, the α1-microglobulin/albumin ratio is evaluated in patients taking statins and compared to untreated patients. METHODS Ten apparently healthy subjects ...

Urinary albumin is an important biomarker used to identify high risk patients with diabetes, but there is a need for new biomarkers that alone or in combination with urinary albumin could give an even better prediction of clinical patient outcomes. One promising biomarker is 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoGuo) that represents intracellular oxidative stress. We investigated the ability of micr...