Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for urinary albumin at low concentrations

We describe an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for urinary albumin. It requires only commercially available reagents, can detect as little as 16 micrograms of albumin per liter, and analytical recovery ranges from 92 to 116%. The assay is simple, rapid, and inexpensive. Albumin excretion was 6.2 (SD 4.1) mg/24 h in healthy subjects (n = 40), 14.7 (SD 7.2) mg/24 h in albumin-test-strip-negative Type I diabetics (n = 11), and 19.7 (SD 16.2) mg/24 h in patients with essential hypertension (n = 12).