Central diastolic blood pressure, plasma aldosterone and uric acid are associated with microalbuminuria in essential hypertension: a case-control study

OBJECTIVE: To study the development of microalbuminuria (MAU) in essential hypertension (EHT), we investigated the association of MAU with central blood pressure (CBP), direct renin concentration (DRC), plasma aldosterone (PA), and uric acid (UA). METHOD: We determined 24 h-urinary albumin excretion (24 h-UAE) in patients with EHT who were hospitalized at TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital from June 2020 to May 2022. We defined MAU as 24 h-UAE in the range of 30 mg/24 h to 300 mg/24 h. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the associations of MAU with CBP, DRC, PA, and UA in EHT, considering demographic and clinical information. We also plotted receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) for predicting MAU using these results. RESULTS: More than a quarter of patients (26.5%, 107/404, 95% CI: 22.2–31.1%) were diagnosed with MAU in EHT. A higher body mass index (BMI), longer duration of hypertension, and higher severity were associated with MAU. Also, nearly 10% more creatinine levels were recorded in the MAU group than in the control group (69.5 ± 18.7 µmol/L vs. 64.8 ± 12.5 µmol/L, P = 0.004). The increase was also observed for PA (15.5, 9.7–20.6 ng/dL vs. 12.3, 9.0–17.3 ng/dL, P = 0.024) and UA (419.8 ± 105.6 µmol/L vs. 375.1 ± 89.5 µmol/L, P < 0.001) in the MAU group compared to that in the control group. Several variables were associated with MAU, including central diastolic blood pressure (CDBP) (OR = 1.017, 95% CI: 1.002–1.032, P = 0.027), PA (OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.009–1.078, P = 0.012) and UA (OR = 1.005, 95% CI: 1.002–1.008, P < 0.001). For MAU prediction, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.709 (95% CI: 0.662–0.753; P < 0.001) when CDBP, PA, and UA were used in combination, and the optimal probability of the cut-off value was 0.337. CONCLUSION: We found that CDBP, PA, and UA, used for MAU prediction, might be associated with its development during EHT. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-023-03515-1.