Urinary albumin excretion in renal transplant donors

Twenty-four hour urinary albumin excretion was measured using sensitive methods in 129 renal transplant donors 1 to 22 years (mean 7.3 years) after kidney donation. The 24 hour urinary albumin excretion values for the donor group was 6 +/- 9.9 mg (mean +/- standard deviation) (range of 0.1 to 65.2 mg) and was 7.7 +/- 4.5 mg for the control group. Five donors (3.9 percent) had 24 hour urinary albumin excretion levels of 25.5 to 65.2 mg 6 to 13 years after donation, values that were greater than a single value from any member of the control group. Elevated diastolic blood pressure (90 mm Hg or greater) was present in these five donors, and in three, labile or established hypertension was present at the time of donation. It is likely that more careful screening of potential donors with labile or fixed hypertension would further reduce the incidence of microalbuminuria in the renal transplant donor. We conclude that urinary albumin excretion values are within the normal range in most renal transplant donors studied several years after renal donation.