Microalbuminuria is more frequent in South Asian than in European origin populations: a comparative study in Newcastle, UK

AIMS: We aimed to compare levels of urinary albumin excretion and the prevalence of microalbuminuria in UK South Asians and Europeans. Microalbuminuria predicts cardiovascular disease in European origin populations, but evidence from the general population of South Asians is lacking. Coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality is 40-50% higher in UK South Asians compared with the whole population, for reasons that are incompletely understood. METHODS: Microalbuminuria was measured using the albumin-creatinine ratio in an age- and sex-stratified random sample of 1509 adults from European (n = 825), Indian (n = 259), Pakistani (n = 305) and Bangladeshi (n = 120) ethnic groups. RESULTS: Levels of urinary albumin excretion were substantially higher in South Asians (geometric mean albumin creatinine ratio (95% confidence…