A simple cost effective screening test for microalbuminuria

Abstract

Estimation of urinary albumin excretion in micro quantities requires expensive immunochemical methods which are not freely available in developing countries with limited resources. A study was performed to set up a simple cost-effective test to quantitatively assess the microalbuminwia. Urine specimens (l 73 samples) were collected and albumin concentration was estimated by precipitating with 25% sulphosalicylic acid (SSA) and use of a light dependent resistor (LDR) system. As the sensitivity of LDR system was interfered by the colour pigment of urine, all samples were mn through a Sephadex G-25 micro column to separate the colour pigment. The present test detects albumin concentrations in the range 10-200 mg/L with a sensitivity and specificity values of 83 andTgYorespectively. We conclude that the present LDR micro column gel filtration method can be used as a cost -qffective screening test for microalbuminuria in developing countries.