Proteinuria is a prognostic marker for cardiovascular mortality: NIPPON DATA 80, 1980-1999.
BACKGROUND
Proteinuria has been considered to be a prognostic marker for persons with diabetes mellitus, but only a limited number of studies about the relationship between proteinuria and mortality among general population has been available.


METHODS
The subjects were 10,897 individuals who participated in the National Cardiovascular Survey conducted in 1980 and who were aged 30 years or older living in 300 districts that had been randomly selected throughout Japan. The vital records were confirmed in 1999 and 7,203 subjects (3,180 males and 4,023 females) without a history of hypertension, stroke, heart disease, renal disease, or diabetes mellitus at the start of the study were investigated.


RESULTS
There were 126,825 person-years of follow-up. During the observed period of time, 371 died of cardiovascular causes, including 171 stroke deaths and 74 coronary deaths. The risk of proteinuria for cardiovascular mortality was greater than unity for those with a normal serum creatinine level, after adjusting for age and other cardiovascular disease risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
When contrasted with other cardiovascular disease risk factors, urinary protein is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular death among the Japanese population.
Tanihara
Shinichi
S
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Shimane University, Japan. taniyan@med.shimane-u.ac.jp
Hayakawa
Takehito
T
Oki
Izumi
I
Nakamura
Yosikazu
Y
Sakata
Kiyomi
K
Okayama
Akira
A
Fujita
Yasuyuki
Y
Ueshima
Hirotsugu
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors
D015415:Biomarkers