Urine · 3 analyses
Microalbumin (albumin/creatinine ratio)
Measures albumin and creatinine in urine and calculates their ratio. For people with diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease in the family.
€ 23,00
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Other analyses · Urine
Albumin (urine)
The amount of albumin in a urine sample; an early sign of kidney damage, especially in diabetes or high blood pressure.
At a glance
- Measured in urine
- In 1 test panel
- Check the preparation
Explanation
Albumin (urine): what is measured?
Albumin is the main protein in the blood. Healthy kidneys let almost no albumin through into the urine. With early damage to the kidney filters, some albumin leaks through, often before kidney function in the blood declines and long before you have symptoms. This analysis measures the concentration of albumin in the urine, formerly called microalbumin. That concentration also depends on how much you have drunk; that is why albumin is usually divided by the creatinine in the same urine (the albumin/creatinine ratio).
What can it detect?
- Early kidney damage, especially in diabetes or high blood pressure
- Temporary albumin loss due to heavy exercise, fever or a urinary tract infection
Result
What does the result mean?
Albumin (urine) too high
A raised concentration may point to damage to the kidney filters, usually due to diabetes or high blood pressure, and goes with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Often a rise is temporary: after heavy exercise, with fever, a urinary tract infection, during menstruation or with high blood sugar. Highly concentrated urine also gives a higher concentration without more albumin being lost. That is why the albumin/creatinine ratio and a repeat measurement are what mainly count.
Albumin (urine) too low
A low or unmeasurable concentration is normal: healthy kidneys retain albumin. In very diluted urine, for example after drinking a lot, a small amount of albumin can be missed; the albumin/creatinine ratio corrects for this.
After an abnormal result
With a raised value, the GP rules out a urinary tract infection, repeats the measurement as an albumin/creatinine ratio in morning urine and has the eGFR in blood measured.
Reliability
How reliable is the test?
The albumin concentration in a single urine sample is less reliable as a measure of kidney damage than the albumin/creatinine ratio, because it depends on how concentrated the urine is. According to the Dutch GP guideline (NHG) on chronic kidney damage, raised albumin in the urine is therefore established with the ratio and confirmed with a repeat measurement. The test is much more sensitive than a urine dipstick, which only detects larger amounts of protein.
What can affect the result?
- Heavy exercise in the day before the sample, fever, a urinary tract infection, menstruation and high blood sugar can raise the value temporarily.
- How much you have drunk determines the concentration; a single value without creatinine is hard to compare with another measurement.
- Morning urine gives the most comparable result; the urine must not be frozen.
Preparation
- Preferably use your first morning urine.
- Avoid heavy exercise in the 24 hours before collecting the urine; it temporarily raises albumin.
Who it is for
Who is the test useful for?
Useful for
Useful for people with diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease or kidney disease in the family, together with the eGFR in blood. The albumin concentration alone means most together with creatinine in the same urine. In healthy people without risk factors, the chance of an abnormality is small and a slightly raised value is often temporary.
How common is it?
Chronic kidney damage affects about 1 in 10 adults in the Netherlands, more often at older ages and in people with diabetes and high blood pressure. Albumin in the urine is often the first sign. In about 5 in 100 Dutch people, chronic kidney damage is known to the GP; so many people with kidney damage do not know it.
NHG guideline on chronic kidney damage; NIVEL primary care registrations (2021)
Drawbacks and risks
- A temporarily raised value after exercise or with an infection can wrongly look like kidney damage and cause unnecessary worry.
Get tested
Albumin (urine): test panels
Albumin (urine) is part of these test panels. You order online and have your blood drawn at a collection point or collect the sample at home.
Evidence
Sources
This explanation is based on Dutch guidelines and independent information. It is general information, not a diagnosis. Discuss an abnormal result with your GP.
More about risks and results- NHG-Standaard Chronische nierschade (M109)
- NVKC, allesovertesten.nl: Microalbumine
- FMS Richtlijn Chronische nierschade: Bepaling van nierfunctie en albuminurie
- Thuisarts.nl: Ik heb nierschade
- NIVEL (2021): Chronische nierschade in de huisartsenpraktijk, prevalentie en behandeling conform de NHG-standaarden