Microalbuminuria: An Early Marker of Renal Involvement in Diabetes

Advancement in medical and clinical science is based upon new concepts, most often in combination with the development of new techniques or new laboratory procedures. This also is the case with the study of renal involvement in diabetes which constitutes a major' health problem (1). Although urinary protein assessment is one of the most commonly used clinical tests, including diabetology, this area has been grossly underdeveloped due to the very crude, nonquanitative screening methods used. The lack of precision of the most commonly used tests contrasts sharply to the severe consequences of microalbuminuria, proteinuria, and nephropathy for the patient (1-6). It is the long-term microvascular complications, specifically diabetic nephropathy and associated retinopathy, neuropathy, and large vessel disease, that are the main determinants of disability and increased mortality in diabetics.