Which method for quantifying urinary albumin excretion gives what outcome? A comparison of immunonephelometry with HPLC

Which method for quantifying urinary albumin excretion gives what outcome? A comparison of immunonephelometry with HPLC.BackgroundMicroalbuminuria has recently been identified as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease in the general population. Immunochemical urinary albumin assays only detect immunoreactive intact albumin. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is able to detect both immunoreactive and immunounreactive intact albumin. We compared both measurement methods respectively in subjects with normo-, micro-, and macroalbuminuria in the general population.MethodsWe used 24-hour urine samples that were collected within the framework of the second screening for the PREVEND Study, a prospective cohort study on albuminuria in the city of Groningen, The Netherlands.ResultsWith nephelometry as immunochemical reference method, we classified 986 subjects as normoalbuminuric, 283 as microalbuminuric, and 43 subjects as macroalbuminuric. The mean ± SD albumin concentration was 6.8 ± 4.3 mg/L for nephelometry in the urine samples of the 998 subjects with a concentration