OBJECTIVE: Growing evidence links hyperglycemia in the diabetic range to albuminuria, while the association between impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and albuminuria is not well established. The study intends to explore whether IFG is longitudinally associated with incident albuminuria in a non-diabetic Chinese community-based cohort.
METHODS: Participants with urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) both in 2014 and 2018 from the atherosclerotic cohort were included. A total of 1649 non-diabetic subjects were ultimately included in the analysis after ruling out participants with UACR≥30 mg/g and self-reported history of renal diseases at baseline. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) was assessed by Roche C8000 Automatic Analyzer and UACR was measured with Unicel DxC 800 Synchron biochemistry analyzer using spot morning urine sample. Incident albuminuria was defined as an advance from normal to microalbuminuria or macroalbuminuria. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to investigate the relationship between FBG and incident albuminuria.
RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 4.38 years, 82 (4.97%) participants developed incident albuminuria. Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment, the risk of incident albuminuria increased by 71% (OR = 1.71, 95%CI: 1.11-2.62, P = 0.014) for every 18 mg/dl (1 mmol/l) increase of FBG level. Besides, FBG level was independently and gradably associated with incident albuminuria. Compared with the FBG < 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/l) group, the risk increased 1.63-fold for incident albuminuria (OR = 2.63, 95%CI:1.42-4.87, P = 0.002) in the FBG 110-126 mg/dl (6.1-7.0 mmol/l) group while the association between FBG 100-110 mg/dl (5.6-6.1 mmol/l) group and the outcome was not significant. Subgroup and interaction analyses were performed and no significant modification effect was found.
CONCLUSION: IFG was independently associated with incident albuminuria in Chinese community-based population. The higher the FBG level, the higher the risk of incident albuminuria, which may suggest that screening for albuminuria should be emphasized in population with IFG so as to prevent and treat it in an early stage.
