Is uACR the key to cardiovascular and kidney disease prevention?
UC nephrologist explains how physicians can use the testing
As a precision biomarker, the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) can guide physicians toward personalized, patient-centered prevention and treatment of both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to new data published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
As MedCentral recently reported, an elevated urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio indicates that the kidneys are stressed, which may be due to increased intraglomerular pressure resulting from hypertension, poorly controlled glucose levels, obesity or a combination of all three.
Prakash Gudsoorkar, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and UC Health nephrologist, said interpretation of uACR for personalized risk assessment requires confirmation of persistent elevation over three months and avoidance of testing during acute illness. This is in addition to “repeat confirmation of elevated random values (ideally using the first morning urine specimen) and integration with eGFR to define combined cardiovascular and CKD progression risk,” he said.
Read the full MedCentral article for treatment response to the biomarker.
Featured image at top: Photo/iStock.
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