Prediction of microalbuminuria from proteinuria in chronic kidney disease due to non-diabetic lifestyle-related diseases: comparison with diabetes

BACKGROUND: To suppress increases in kidney failure and cardiovascular disease due to lifestyle-related diseases other than diabetes, early intervention is desirable. We examined whether microalbuminuria could be predicted from proteinuria. METHODS: The participants consisted of adults who exhibited a urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio (uPCR) of < 0.5 g/gCr and an eGFR of ≥ 15 ml/min/1.73 m(2) in their spot urine at their first examination for lifestyle-related disease. Urine was tested three times for each case, with microalbuminuria defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) of 30–299 mg/gCr, at least twice on three measurements. Youden’s Index was used as an index of the cut-off value (CO) according to the ROC curve. RESULTS: A single uPCR was useful for differentiating normoalbuminuria and micro- and macroalbuminuria in patients with non-diabetic lifestyle-related diseases. Regarding the GFR categories, the CO of the second uPCR was 0.09 g/gCr (AUC 0.89, sensitivity 0.76, specificity 0.89) in G1-4 (n = 197) and 0.07 g/gCr (AUC 0.92, sensitivity 0.85, specificity 0.88) in G1-3a (n = 125). Using the sum of two or three uPCR measurements was more useful than a single uPCR for differentiating microalbuminuria in non-diabetic lifestyle disease [CO, 0.16 g/gCr (AUC 0.91, sensitivity 0.85, specificity 0.87) and 0.23 g/gCr (AUC 0.92, sensitivity 0.88, specificity 0.84), respectively]. CONCLUSION: Microalbuminuria in Japanese individuals with non-diabetic lifestyle-related diseases can be predicted from the uPCR, wherein the CO of the uPCR that differentiates normoalbuminuria and micro- and macroalbuminuria was 0.07 g/gCr for G1-3a, while that in G3b-4 was 0.09 g/gCr.