Healthy individuals with higher levels of albumin excretion, even levels considered normal, are at increased risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a study appearing in the October 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).
The study suggests that to prevent cardiovascular disease, the definition of "normal" urinary albumin excretion should be reconsidered.
Because kidneys normally prevent large molecules such as albumin from being excreted in the urine, high levels of urinary albumin excretion-called albuminuria-can be an indicator of kidney damage. Albuminuria may also reflect dysfunction of endothelial cells throughout the body, which in turn may be a precursor to hypertension.
A variety of studies have shown that higher levels of urinary albumin excretion, even within the normal range, are associated with cardiovascular disease in individuals with diabetes or hypertension. However, less research has been done in low-risk populations. Therefore, it is unclear whether higher, although normal, levels of albumin in the urine might indicate that generally healthy individuals are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a condition that claims more than 800,000 lives each year.