Clinical Significance of Urinary Microalbumin to Creatinine Ratio in Physical Examinations

Objective To determine the association between urinary microalbumin to creatinine ratio （mALB/Cr） and metabolic indicators in people undergoing physical examinations. Methods A total of 4 184 people who took physical examinations in West China Hospital, Sichuan University from November 2013 to October 2014 participated in this study. We measured their body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), waistline, hipline, Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), urinary mALB/Cr, serum glucose (GLU), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr), uric acid (UA), cystatin C (Cys-C), glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and homocysteine (Hcy). Results ① The participants had a median (interquartile range) mALB/Cr of 5.7 （3.1-11.8） mg/g: 5.4 （3.0-11.3） mg/g for males and 6.3 （3.6-13.2） mg/g for females (P<0.05). ② About 10.95% participants (10.96% for males and 10.90% for females) had a mALB/Cr ≥30 mg/g. ③ mALB/Cr increased with age. ④ BMI, SBP, DBP, waistline, WHR, GLU, HDL-C, TG, SCr, BUN, UA, eGFR and Cys-C were associated the distribution of participants (P<0.05) across the three groups of mALB/Cr: normal (<30 mg/g), microalbuminuria (30-300 mg/g), and proteinuria (>300 mg/g). ⑤ Logistic regression demonstrated that age, SBP, WHR, GLU, TG and eGFR were significant predictors of albuminuria. Conclusion A high level of abnormal/positive mALB/Cr was found in people undergoing physical examinations. Increased age, SBP, WHR, GLU, TG and decreased eGFR are major risk factors of abnormal mALB/Cr. mALB/Cr should be monitored, especially in the elderly and those with high-metabolic-syndrome.