The relationship between urinary albumin excretion rate and serum cholesterol in primary glomerular disease

The relationship between urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) and serum cholesterol was investigated in a group of 100 patients with primary glomerular disease. Patients were classified into four groups according to AER: 1. normal < 30 mg/24 h; 2. microalbuminuria 30-300 mg/24 h; 3. proteinuria 300-3000 mg/24 h; 4. nephrotic > 3000 mg/24 h. Serum cholesterol values for each patient were compared with the mean of two healthy controls matched for age, sex and weight. Although the albuminuric group had significantly increased serum cholesterol concentrations compared to controls (6.58 mmol/l sd 1.81 v. 5.91 sd 0.88; paired t, p < 0.003), this was almost entirely explained by the increase in the group with AER > 3000 mg/24 h (8.47 mmol/l sd 2.43 v. 6.18 sd 0.61; paired t, p < 0.02). However, there was a relationship between the log transformed values for serum cholesterol and AER which persisted even when those with AER > 3000 mg/day were excluded. These data suggest that albuminuria less than the nephrotic range has a minor influence on serum cholesterol in patients with primary glomerular disease.