Albuminuria reduction: the holy grail for kidney protection.

Abstract

Increased urinary excretion of albumin or total protein has become firmly established as a risk predictor for progression of chronic kidney disease. Observational analyses have raised a strong hypothesis that albuminuria reduction should be a clinical treatment target. Bakris et al. report further exploration of albuminuria-lowering capabilities of intensified renin-angiotensin system inhibition in a randomized clinical trial that included patients at high cardiovascular risk, most of whom appeared to have diabetic kidney disease.