Yonsei Med J.  2016 Nov;57(6):1454-1460. 10.3349/ymj.2016.57.6.1454.

Association between Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio within the Normal Range and Incident Hypertension in Men and Women

• Yadav D
• Kang DR
• Koh SB
• Kim JY
• Ahn SV

• KMID: 2427164
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2016.57.6.1454

Abstract

PURPOSE
There have been few studies on gender difference in the impact of a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) within the normal range on the risk of hypertension. We evaluated whether the association between the UACR below the microalbuminuria range and the incident risk of hypertension is different between men and women.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 1173 individuals (442 men and 731 women) aged 40 to 70 years without hypertension was examined at baseline (2005-2008) and followed (2008-2011). We defined the UACR as the amount of albumin (mg/dL) divided by creatinine (g/dL) in randomly voided urine. The subjects were classified according to UACR tertile.
RESULTS
During an average of 2.6 years of follow-up, 57 men (12.9%) and 66 women (9.0%) developed hypertension. In multivariable-adjusted models, the odds ratio for new-onset hypertension comparing the highest and lowest tertiles of UACR was 1.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85-3.94] in men and 2.69 (95% CI 1.27-5.73) in women. In stratified analyses by menopausal status, higher tertiles of UACR were associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension in postmenopausal women.
CONCLUSION
Higher normal UACR levels were associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension in women. The UACR could have a clinical role in predicting the development of hypertension.

Keyword

Albuminuria; hypertension; prospective study

MeSH Terms

Aged
Albuminuria/epidemiology/*urine
Biomarkers/urine
Creatinine/*urine
Female
Humans
Hypertension/epidemiology/*urine
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Prospective Studies
Reference Values
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Biomarkers
Creatinine

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Flowchart of study population. UACR, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio; KoGES-ARIRANG, Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study on Atherosclerosis Risk of Rural Areas in the Korean General Population.

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