Urine Test Predicts Heart Problems In Postmenopausal Women.(urinary albumin is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease)

2001 JUL 12 - (NewsRx Network) -- A routine test can measure levels of a protein in urine samples and may reveal early, symptomless cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.

Scientists in The Netherlands measured levels of albumin, a common protein in the blood, in urine samples from 1,118 healthy postmenopausal women who were followed for up to 18 years. Women in the highest quintile of urinary albumin levels had an age-adjusted cardiovascular death rate 4.4 times that of women without detectable albumin in their urine. Albumin levels are obtained by a urinalysis that is part of a routine medical exam.

"We suggest that urinary albumin is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in this large group of postmenopausal women," says Jan Dirk Banga, MD, PhD, a co-author of the report, published in the June 26, 2001, issue of Circulation.

A small amount of albumin in the urine (microalbuminuria) indicates that blood vessels in the kidneys are leaking, explains Banga, who is a consultant in vascular medicine at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Scientists believe that this leakage results from malfunctioning endothellal cells, which line the inside of blood vessels.

"The endothellal cells may already be damaged and malfunctioning at the early stage of heart disease when there are no symptoms. Our finding supports the hypothesis that albumin in the urine is a reflection of vascular damage and a marker of early disease," he says.

Among people with diabetes and high blood pressure, microalbuminuria is linked to an increased risk of developing kidney damage or heart disease. Smoking, high cholesterol, and hypertension are among the well-documented risk factors for heart disease. The known hazards, however, do not give a full picture of a person's heart danger, says Banga.

He and his colleagues have been looking for additional markers that would provide better risk estimation. "A routine urinary analysis will never be able to predict cardiac death in an individual, but it may predict an increased risk," he says.