Relationship between Microalbuminuria and Extent of Coronary Atherosclerotic Lesions

Background- Microalbuminuria is a diagnostic tool for screening patients at risk of developing nephropathy. It is also known that patients with microalbuminuria have a greater incidence of cardiovascular events and early mortality. In this study, reliability of the microalbuminuria as an indicator of a risk of progressive cardiovascular disorders was tested by detection of the relationship between microalbuminuria and extension of atherosclerotic coronary lesions. Methods- The subjects for this study were 228 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary atherosclerotic lesions and mean of age 60 years; they were referred to Madani Hospital Tabriz, Iran. Age and sex-matched apparently healthy individuals (n=114) were used as the control group for a comparative study. The levels of glucose and creatinine and that of post-prandial glucose were determined in venous blood samples by standard methods. The immunoturbidimetric method was employed in the measurement of microalbuminuria. Results- A direct relationship between microalbuminuria and extension of atherosclerotic coronary lesions was noticed (P = 0.009). The increased albumin / creatinine ratio was markedly correlated with fasting blood sugar, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P<0.05). Conclusion- The presented results indicate the existence of significant correlation between extent of atherosclerotic lesions and microalbuminuria. The relationship between diabetes and microalbuminuria was meaningful. These facts may contribute to the higher cardiovascular risk in diabetic patients. An association between hypertension and microalbuminuria was noticed. The result suggests that although risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes are known to cause cardiovascular disease, microalbuminuria may in fact be a contributor indicator of cardiovascular events