WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A high albumin/creatinine ratio in patients with a low muscle mass can be an indication of low urinary creatinine rather than microalbuminuria and by association, cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online Dec. 12 in Hypertension.
Massimo Cirillo, M.D., of the Second University of Naples, Italy, and colleagues analyzed data on weight, skinfold, urinary albumin, creatinine and coronary heart disease in 1,623 men and women aged 45 to 64 in the Gubbio Population Study, an ongoing epidemiological study taking place in a city in Italy.
Some 8.5% of the subjects had a high albumin/creatinine ratio, 4.3% had microalbuminuria, 5.2% had a high albumin/creatinine ratio without microalbuminuria, and 1.0% did not have a high albumin/creatinine ratio but did have microalbuminuria, the researchers found.
Overall, 18.9% of patients with a high albumin/creatinine ratio and microalbuminuria had cardiovascular disease, compared with 7.1% of patients without an elevated albumin/creatinine ratio and 8.2% of patients with a high ratio and no microalbuminuria.
"A high albumin/creatinine ratio in persons with low muscle mass indicates low urinary creatinine more often than microalbuminuria and cardiovascular disease," the authors conclude.
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