Microalbuminuria, a sign usually ignored

Earlier study demonstrated that microalbuminuria was the earliest clinical finding of diabetic nephropathy and it also indicates higher risk in progress to end stage of renal disease. However, subsequent reports found an association between microalbuminuria and cardiovascular disease in nondiabetics and diabetics. Microalbuminuria has been recognized as a sign of endothelial dysfunction. The association between microalbuminuria and chronic disease, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, or insulin-resistance, have also been proposed. Deferent from earlier definition of microalbuminuria, recently study has found that the risk of cardiovascular rises as the patients's microalbuminuria is equal or more than 30 mg/day (20 μg/min) or urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio is equal or more than 30 mg/g. The pathophysiology and clinical application of microalbuminuria are reviewed in this article.