Albuminuria in General Health Screening in Japan : Relationship with Insulin Resistance and Atherosclerosis

Background and Purpose The presence of microalbuminuria is a risk factor for advanced renal failure and atherosclerotic diseases. In the current study, we investigated the association between albuminuria , insulin resistance, and carotid atherosclerosis. Methods and Results We analyzed data from 3674 individuals (female 1 228 , male 2446) who underwent general health screening. Microalbuminuria was defined as a urine albumin to urine creatinine ratio, termed the albumin excretion index (AEI), of 30 and 299 mg/g ; macroalbuminuria was defined as an AEI >300 mg/g . The prevalence of microand macroalbuminuria was 11.7% and 1.5%, respectively. When compared to the lowest AEI quartile (AEI <4.5 mg/g), the highest AEI quartile (AEI>150 mg/g) was found to be associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) with an odds ratio of 5.7 (95% CI 1.7-19.3) in women and 3.9 (95% CI 2.9-5.3) in men after adjusting for total cholesterol (TC) and smoking status. In addition, after adjusting for sex, age, TC, smoking status, systolic BP, and fasting glucose, the highest AEI quartile was associated with carotid plaque with an odds ratio of 1.33 (95% CI 1.06-1.67). Conclusion Our data show that the presence of albuminuria in individuals undergoing general health screening, even when it is below the cut-off value for "micro-" albuminuria, is a risk factor for MetS and carotid plaque. (Ningen Dock 2007 ; 21 : 51-55)