Clinical Information

Diabetic nephropathy is a complication of diabetes and is characterized by proteinuria (normal urinary albumin excretion is <30 mg/day; overt proteinuria is >300 mg/day). Before overt proteinuria develops, albumin excretion increases in those diabetic patients who are destined to develop diabetic nephropathy. Therapeutic maneuvers (eg, aggressive blood pressure maintenance, particularly with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; aggressive blood sugar control; and possibly decreased protein intake) can significantly delay, or possibly prevent, development of nephropathy. Thus, there is a need to identify small, but abnormal, increases in the excretion of urinary albumin (in the range of 30-300 mg/day, ie, microalbuminuria).

The National Kidney Foundation guidelines for the management of patients with diabetes and microalbuminuria recommend that all type 1 diabetic patients older than 12 years and all type 2 diabetic patients younger than 70 years have their urine tested for microalbuminuria yearly when they are under stable glucose control.(1)

The preferred specimen is a 24-hour collection, but a random collection is acceptable. Studies have shown that correcting albumin for creatinine excretion rates has similar discriminatory value with respect to diabetic renal involvement. The albumin:creatinine ratio from a random urine specimen is also considered a valid screening tool.(2) Several studies have addressed whether the specimen needs to be a fasting urine, an exercised urine, or an overnight urine specimen. These studies have shown that the first-morning urine specimen is less sensitive, but more specific.

Studies also have shown that microalbuminuria is a marker of generalized vascular disease and is associated with stroke and heart disease.