MICROALBUMINURIA AND N-ACETYL-BETA-D-GLUC OSAMINIDASE IN PATIENTS WITH ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION

Urinary excretion of albumin and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) had been measured in 100 patients with essential hypertension (EH). T he patients were divided into three groups according to the severity o f hypertension (WHO classification), as follows: Mild (n = 24), modera te (n = 57) and severe (n = 19). In the controls (32 healthy examines) the lower level of microalbuminuria (MA) in our population was determ ined. The range of albumin excretion was 0 - 16 mg/24 hour (mean 8 +/- 7.8, median 4.8) and the values above 16 mg/24 hours were regarded as MA in our study. The analysis of all the 100 patients showed positive MA in 16 of patients (16%) and an elevated NAG excretion was found in 60 (60%). MA mostly ranged between 17 - 45 mg/24 hours (15% of patien ts) and NAG was usually 1.2 - 3 U/g of creatinine (50% of patients).