Glycated Hemoglobin is Independently Associated with Albuminuria in Young Nondiabetic People with Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to explore the association between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level and albuminuria in young nondiabetic people with obesity. MATERIAL/METHODS: A total of 537 young nondiabetic people with obesity were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, which was approved by the Rui-jin Hospital Ethics Committee. Albuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) ≥30 mg/g. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between HbA1c level and albuminuria. RESULTS: Urinary ACR progressively increased across the tertiles of HbA1c level (P for trend <0.05). HbA1c levels were positively associated with the risk of albuminuria in the logistic regression analysis after adjustment for confounding factors. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for albuminuria was 3.72 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25–11.00; P=0.017) when comparing between the highest (≥5.7%) and lowest tertiles of HbA1c level (≤5.3%). Moreover, an increment of 1 SD in HbA1c level increased the risk of albuminuria in a fully adjusted model (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.25–2.46). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that HbA1c level was independently associated with albuminuria in young nondiabetic people with obesity.