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CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY |

* Renal Division and Channing Laboratory and
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Correspondence: Dr. John P. Forman, Channing Laboratory, 3rd floor; 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Phone: 617-525-2092; Fax: 617-525-2008; E-mail: jforman{at}partners.org
Received for publication January 11, 2008. Accepted for publication April 24, 2008.
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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More recent studies have demonstrated that increasing levels of albumin excretion, even within the normal range, are associated with increasing risk for cardiovascular end points among individuals who do and do not have diabetes and are at high baseline cardiovascular risk, such as individuals with multiple cardiovascular risk factors and those with left ventricular hypertrophy.8,9 Data from the Framingham study suggested that higher albumin/creatinine ratios (ACR), even within the normal range, may be associated with the risk for hypertension; however, a sizable proportion of individuals in the highest quartile (which was associated with elevated risk) had microalbuminuria.10
We examined prospectively the association between the baseline ACR and risk for development of hypertension among 1065 older women without hypertension and diabetes and with normoalbuminuria from the first Nurses Health Study (NHS I) and among 1114 younger women without hypertension and diabetes and with normoalbuminuria from the second Nurses Health Study (NHS II).
| RESULTS |
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Because 10 women (eight from NHS I and two from NHS II) did not report having clinician examinations after submission of the urine specimen and during the period of follow-up, we repeated our multivariable analyses after excluding these 10 women; the results were essentially unchanged. Comparing women in the highest with lowest quartile of ACR, the HR were 1.76 (95% CI 1.21 to 2.55; P = 0.04 for trend) in NHS I and 1.34 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.90; P = 0.06 for trend) in NHS II. We also analyzed our data after (1) adjusting for alcohol and sodium intake; (2) including use of aspirin, acetaminophen, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the multivariable models; and (3) excluding not only women with diabetes at baseline but also women who developed diabetes during follow-up. None of these secondary analyses affected the results.
| DISCUSSION |
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What seems to be clear is that the glomerular endothelial cell does play some role, however large, in the filtration barrier, and dysfunction of these endothelial cells may therefore lead to increased albumin excretion.11 Dysfunction of glomerular endothelial cells may reflect more widespread endothelial dysfunction. For example, endothelial-dependent vasodilation of the brachial artery, a surrogate marker of endothelial function, is inversely related to albumin excretion.5,13 Furthermore, albumin excretion is positively associated with some circulating biomarkers secreted by activated endothelial cells, such as von Willebrand factor.14 Taken together, higher levels of urine albumin excretion may reflect systemic endothelial dysfunction, which in turn may be a precursor to hypertension.15
Glomerular hyperfiltration may be a second mechanism linking higher levels of albumin excretion with hypertension. Because the glomerular filtration barrier is incomplete, some albumin does enter the proximal tubular fluid; however, under normal circumstances, this filtered albumin is completely reabsorbed by proximal tubular cells.16 A recent study by Lazzara and Deen16 suggested that increases in single-nephron GFR (snGFR), with concomitant increases in proximal tubular flow, can overwhelm the reabsorptive capacity of the proximal tubule; for example, a 50% increase in snGFR was predicted to cause a four- to five-fold increase in albumin excretion. Thus, states of glomerular hyperfiltration (i.e., increased snGFR), such as reduced nephron number and/or increased activity of the kidney renin-angiotensin system, may provide a link between higher levels of albumin excretion and the development of hypertension.17
It is well established that, among individuals who are at high baseline risk for cardiovascular events, high-normal compared with low-normal levels of ACR are associated with a greater risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. In a post hoc analysis of the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial, the risk for a composite end point of cardiovascular death, nonfatal stroke, and nonfatal myocardial infarction began to increase as the ACR increased above 1.9 mg/g.8 The risk was 6% higher for every 4-mg/g increase in the ACR, and the findings were similar among individuals with and without diabetes.8 Similar results were observed in the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction in hypertension (LIFE) trial. The risk of a composite cardiovascular end point began rising with ACR values above 2.2 mg/g; individuals whose ACR was 14 to 22 mg/g had a 60% increased risk compared with those whose ACR was <2.2 mg/g.9 Both of these studies enrolled high-risk individuals; HOPE included participants with known vascular disease or with diabetes plus one other risk factor, and LIFE included individuals with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy.8,9 Multiple other investigations have confirmed these findings among individuals with hypertension18 and among elderly individuals with a mixture of baseline hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease.19
In contrast, few studies have examined low-risk populations without hypertension and without diabetes. Wang et al.10 first reported an association between low-level albumin excretion and progression to hypertension in the Framingham Heart Study. Men and women in the highest compared with lowest quartile of ACR had a 1.93-fold (95% CI 1.18 to 3.10) higher risk for incident hypertension; however, the ACR values in the highest quartile in women ranged from 15.2 to 297.2 mg/g, and 35% of the women in this highest quartile had an ACR >30 mg/g. Although the proportion of women who had an ACR
25 mg/g (the female-specific cut point) in that study's highest quartile was not given, it was certainly at least 35%. Although only 10% of the highest quartile of men had an ACR >30 mg/g, the male-specific cut point for defining microalbuminuria is
17 mg/g (reflecting a higher urine creatinine excretion in men than in women).20,21
Our study has limitations that deserve mention. First, each participant submitted a single morning urine specimen rather than multiple specimens or a 24-h collection. Because of day-to-day within-person variation in albumin excretion,22,23 some participants in our study likely had their ACR status misclassified; however, this type of misclassification, if it occurred, would likely be random and therefore tend to bias the results toward an underestimation of the true association. Second, we did not directly measure our participants BP. Nevertheless, all participants are trained health professionals, and self-reporting of hypertension has been validated in these cohorts. Third, the NHS I and NHS II cohorts are predominately white and entirely female, so the results may not be generalizable to other racial groups or to men.
In conclusion, variations within the normal range of albumin excretion are associated with the development of hypertension, which is a major cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The findings of this study, in conjunction with the findings of numerous others, including the Framingham Heart Study, HOPE, and LIFE, suggest that it may be time to reevaluate our current concept of "normal" albumin excretion.
| CONCISE METHODS |
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Study Populations
The study populations analyzed here are subcohorts of NHS I and NHS II. The derivation of these subcohorts for the analysis of incident hypertension is detailed in Figure 1. With the original intent of examining the association between analgesic intake and decline in kidney function, the populations were first limited to those who provided blood samples in 1989 (NHS I) or 1997 (NHS II), then restricted to those who returned supplementary questionnaires about analgesic use, and finally to those indicating a willingness to provide additional future blood samples. Urine samples were submitted by participants of NHS I in 2000 and by participants of NHS II between the years 1996 and 1998. Women with prevalent hypertension or those reporting use of antihypertensive medications at the time of urine collection were excluded, as were women with diabetes. We used an accepted gender-specific cut point of
25 mg/g to define microalbuminuria20,21; therefore, for this study, women whose ACR were
25 mg albumin/g creatinine were also excluded (i.e., those with microalbuminuria). Finally, because the ACR is highly denominator dependent (i.e., ACR values may be spuriously inflated if urinary creatinine excretion is low),24 we further excluded women with very low urinary creatinine concentrations (<30 mg/dl).24 A spot urine with <30 mg/dl of creatinine is currently defined by the World Health Organization as too dilute for adequate analysis.24 The institutional review board at Brigham and Women's Hospital reviewed and approved this study.
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Ascertainment of Hypertension
Hypertension was self-reported in these cohorts of health professionals on biennial questionnaires; self-reported hypertension has been shown to be highly reliable. In a subset of women who reported hypertension, medical chart review confirmed a documented BP >140/90 mmHg in 100%; in addition, self-reported hypertension was predictive of subsequent cardiovascular events.25 Women were considered to have prevalent hypertension at the time of urine collection when they reported a diagnosis of hypertension on any previous biennial questionnaire or reported use of antihypertensive medications on the questionnaire that preceded urine collection. To analyze incident hypertension, women with prevalent hypertension were excluded. Among those without prevalent hypertension at baseline, women were considered to have incident hypertension when they reported, after the date of urine collection, an initial diagnosis of hypertension or new use of antihypertensive medications.
Ascertainment of Other Factors
Age, BMI (kg/m2), smoking status, and physical activity (metabolic equivalent task scores) were ascertained from the main biennial questionnaires returned in 2000 (NHS I) or 1997 (NHS II). Information on history of hypertension in a first-degree relative was available on the 1992 (NHS I) and 1989 (NHS II) questionnaires. We obtained self-reported baseline BP in NHS I from the 1998 questionnaire (this was not ascertained in 2000) and in NHS II from the 1999 questionnaire (this was not ascertained in 1997). Systolic BP was reported in nine categories (<105, 105 to 114, 115 to 124, 125 to 134, 135 to 144, 145 to 154, 155 to 164, 165 to 174, and
175 mmHg), and diastolic BP was reported in seven categories (<65, 65 to 74, 75 to 84, 85 to 89, 90 to 94, 95 to 104, and
105 mmHg). A participant's BP was defined as the middle systolic and middle diastolic value of the reported category. Classification of self-reported BP in this manner is highly predictive of subsequent cardiovascular events in these cohorts.26 Alcohol and sodium intake were ascertained from food frequency questionnaires that participants answered in 1998 (NHS I) or 1995 (NHS II).
Creatinine was measured by a modified Jaffe method. eGFR was estimated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation: 186 x [creatinine]–1.154x age–0.203x 0.742 x 1.21 (if black).27
Statistical Analysis
Trends among baseline covariates across quartiles of ACR were examined using the Kruskal-Wallis test (for continuous variables) or the Mantel-Haenszel
2 test of trend (for categorical variables). For the analysis of incident hypertension, we examined the ACR in quartiles using the lowest quartile as the reference group. Person-time was counted from the date of urine collection to the date the last biennial questionnaire was returned (2004 in NHS I and 2005 in NHS II) and allocated according to exposure status. Person-time was truncated when an event occurred. Participants were censored at the date of death, or, when they did not return a subsequent questionnaire, they were censored at the date the subsequent questionnaire was mailed. Associations with incident hypertension were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression. We computed HR for age-adjusted models, as well as multivariable-adjusted models that included age (continuous), BMI (continuous), physical activity (quintiles), smoking (never, past, current), family history of hypertension (yes/no), MDRD eGFR (continuous), and baseline BP. In secondary analyses, we also adjusted for alcohol and sodium intake, as well as baseline use of aspirin, acetominophen, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The proportional hazards assumption was tested by plotting the hazards function for quartiles of ACR using log-log curves (proc lifetest). There were no departures from the proportional hazards assumption in the NHS I cohort and only minor departures in NHS II. Tests for linear trend across quartiles were assessed using the median ACR within each quartile.
For all HR, we calculated 95% CI. All P values are two-tailed. Statistical tests were performed using SAS statistical software, version 9 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
| DISCLOSURES |
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| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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| REFERENCES |
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