Fetal growth and urinary albumin excretion among middle-aged Danes.
OBJECTIVE
Impaired fetal growth has been linked with cardiovascular disease and different cardiovascular risk factors. Few studies have examined the association between fetal growth and urinary albumin excretion, an important predictor of vascular disease in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects.


METHODS
We examined the association between markers of fetal growth, ie, birth weight, birth length and Ponderal Index, from birth records and urinary albumin excretion in 545 middle-aged men and women who had taken part in a population-based follow-up study in the municipality of Ebeltoft, Denmark. The outcome was the urinary albumin-creatinine ratio.


RESULTS
Three men (1.1%) and 10 women (3.6%) had a albumin-creatinine ratio above 2.5/3.5 mg/mmol, which is considered abnormal and diagnostic of microalbuminuria. The strength of the associations between birth weight, birth length, Ponderal Index and albumin-creatinine ratio were fitted in separate multivariate models, but no associations were found in any model.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study did not support the hypothesis of an association between fetal growth and adult albumin-creatinine ratio. Studies with larger numbers of microalbuminuric subjects are required in order to further clarify the relationship between fetal growth and later renal function.
Johnsen
S P
SP
Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Aarhus, Denmark. spj@soci.au.dk
Sørensen
H T
HT
Thulstrup
A M
AM
Nørgård
B
B
Engberg
M
M
Lauritzen
T
T
D000419:Albuminuria; D001724:Birth Weight; D001824:Body Constitution; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D003718:Denmark; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy
D003404:Creatinine