Primary hyperlipidaemia is not associated with increased urinary albumin excretion

In a group of 141 otherwise healthy subjects attending a lipoprotein clinic, urinary albumin excretion was measured to determine whether primary hyperlipidaemia was associated with evidence of early renal dysfunction. There was no evidence of increased urinary albumin concentrations or albumin:creatinine ratios when compared with data for normal controls. There were no differences in these parameters when the values for the upper and lower quartiles of the cholesterol distribution were compared, and no relationship existed between plasma cholesterol and albuminuria. A weak association was shown between plasma triglyceride and urinary albumin concentration after log transformation of the data. We conclude that hyperlipidaemia per se is not associated with renal disease as measured by sensitive assays of albuminuria.