title: Presence of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Is Not Associated with Microalbuminuria in 14-to-20-Years Old Slovak Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional, Population Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In adults, microalbuminuria indicates generalized endothelial dysfunction, and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and all cause mortality. Slovak adults present one of the highest cardiovascular mortality rates in Europe. Thus Slovak adolescents are on a high-risk to develop cardiovascular afflictions early, and screening for microalbuminuria might be useful in early assessment of their cardiovascular risk. We aimed to study the prevalence of microalbuminuria in Slovak adolescents, and the association of urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) to cardiovascular risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anthropometric data, blood pressure, blood count, glucose homeostasis, lipid profile, renal function, inflammatory status, concentrations of homocysteine and uric acid were determined and associated with ACR in 2 666 adolescents (49.4% boys, 51.6% girls) aged 14-to-20 years. Microalbuminuria was classified as ACR 2.5-25.0 mg/mmol in boys and 3.5-35.0 mg/mmol in girls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of microalbuminuria in both genders reached 3.3%, and did not differ significantly between lean and centrally obese subjects. Girls presented higher ACR than boys (normoalbuminuric: 0.6 ± 0.5 mg/mmol vs. 0.5 ± 0.4 mg/mmol, p > 0.001; microalbuminuric: 9.3 ± 7.3 mg/mmol vs. 5.0 ± 3.8 mg/mmol; p > 0.001). Microalbuminuric adolescents and those presenting normoalbuminuria within the upper ACR quartile were slimmer than their normoalbuminuric counterparts or adolescents with normoalbuminuria within the lower quartile, respectively. No association between microalbuminuria and cardiovascular risk markers was revealed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results obtained in this study do not support our assumption that ACR associates with cardiometabolic risk factors in apparently healthy adolescents. Follow-up studies until adulthood are needed to estimate the potential cardiometabolic risk of apparently healthy microalbuminuric adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular BioMedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Radana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gurecká
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular BioMedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koborová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Technology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Šebek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular BioMedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Šebeková
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D018154:Slovakia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D012709:Serum Albumin; D003404:Creatinine