A study aimed to explore the relationship between urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) and new-onset heart failure (HF) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Researchers analyzed data from 9,287 Chinese participants with T2D without prior HF, dividing them into three groups based on uACR levels: normal, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria. Over a median follow-up of 4.05 years, 216 cases of new-onset HF were recorded. The study found that higher uACR levels were associated with a significantly increased risk of HF, with progressively higher risk from microalbuminuria to macroalbuminuria. Even a 1 standard deviation increase in ln(uACR) was linked to a notable rise in HF risk. These findings were consistent across different subgroups, such as sex, blood pressure, and kidney function.

The study concluded that elevated uACR, even at levels below the normal range, is an independent risk factor for new-onset HF in patients with T2D. Additionally, incorporating uACR into existing HF risk models improved their predictive accuracy. This suggests that monitoring uACR could be valuable for early detection and prevention of HF in T2D populations.

Reference: Tao J, Sang D, Zhen L, et al. Elevated urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio increases the risk of new-onset heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2023;22(1):70. doi: 10.1186/s12933-023-01796-6.