Association between Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio within the Normal Range and Incident Hypertension in Men and Women.
OBJECTIVE
There have been few studies on gender difference in the impact of a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) within the normal range on the risk of hypertension. We evaluated whether the association between the UACR below the microalbuminuria range and the incident risk of hypertension is different between men and women.


METHODS
A total of 1173 individuals (442 men and 731 women) aged 40 to 70 years without hypertension was examined at baseline (2005-2008) and followed (2008-2011). We defined the UACR as the amount of albumin (mg/dL) divided by creatinine (g/dL) in randomly voided urine. The subjects were classified according to UACR tertile.


RESULTS
During an average of 2.6 years of follow-up, 57 men (12.9%) and 66 women (9.0%) developed hypertension. In multivariable-adjusted models, the odds ratio for new-onset hypertension comparing the highest and lowest tertiles of UACR was 1.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85-3.94] in men and 2.69 (95% CI 1.27-5.73) in women. In stratified analyses by menopausal status, higher tertiles of UACR were associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension in postmenopausal women.


CONCLUSIONS
Higher normal UACR levels were associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension in women. The UACR could have a clinical role in predicting the development of hypertension.
Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea.
Dhananjay
D
Yadav
Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Dae Ryong
DR
Kang
Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea.|Institute of Genomic Cohort, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea.
Sang Baek
SB
Koh
Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea.
Jang Young
JY
Kim
Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea.|Institute of Genomic Cohort, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea. dodge@yonsei.ac.kr.
Song Vogue
SV
Ahn
D000368:Aged; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
D015415:Biomarkers; D003404:Creatinine
Albuminuria; hypertension; prospective study