**Diabetic Patients with Urinary mAlb and Urinary Protein Determination Correlation Research**
We will report the results as follows:
1. **Material and Method**
1.1 **Specimens Origin**: From 2003 to May, in our hospital, we collected 214 cases of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus, including 118 males and 96 females, aged between 38 and 72 years old. We collected two tubes of 10ml random urine samples from each patient: one tube for routine urine analysis and the other stored in a refrigerator at 0~4°C for urinary mAlb determination.
1.2 **Methods**: Urinary protein qualitative determination was performed using the dry chemical test strip method, with equipment provided by Guilin Huatong Instrument Factory (urine analyzer) and supporting test strips. Urinary mAlb was measured using the RIA (radioimmunoassay) method, with equipment produced by Beijing Nuclear Instrument Factory (FT 630G ten-probe radioimmunoassay instrument). The reagents used were urinary mAlb kits produced by the Jiaozuo Institute for Immunology. All reagents were used within their validity period, and operations were strictly conducted according to the manual.
2. **Results**
Table 1 shows the correlation between urinary mAlb and urinary protein levels:
- **First Group**: 0.4-12.1 mg/L (n=99), all urinary proteins were negative (except for one case where urinary mAlb was 3.28 mg/L, which was later confirmed as a false positive due to alkaline urine).
- **Second Group**: 12.2-19.9 mg/L (n=25), all urinary proteins were negative.
- **Third Group**: 20-29.9 mg/L (n=17), urinary protein positive rate was 17.6%.
- **Fourth Group**: 30-39.9 mg/L (n=16), urinary protein positive rate was 50%.
- **Fifth Group**: 40-49.9 mg/L (n=28), urinary protein positive rate was 85.7%.
- **Sixth Group**: >50 mg/L (n=29), urinary protein positive rate was 97%.
**Note**:
- A: Normal range of urinary mAlb is 0-12.1 mg/L.
- B: Positive rates include weakly positive (+) and strongly positive (++) cases.
- C: False positives may occur due to alkaline urine.
From Table 1, it can be observed that:
- In the first group, all urinary proteins were negative (except for one false positive due to alkaline urine).
- In the second group, all urinary proteins were negative.
- In the third group, the positive rate of routine urinary protein was 17.6%.
- In the fourth group, the positive rate of routine urinary protein was 50%.
- In the fifth group, the positive rate of routine urinary protein was 85.7%.
- In the sixth group, the positive rate of urinary protein was 97%.
The results indicate that the higher the content of mAlb in urine, the higher the positive rate of urinary protein. These two factors are positively correlated.
3. **Discussion**
Under normal circumstances, the glomerular basement membrane has micropores of only 3~4nm, allowing only small molecular weight proteins (15mg/L), but urinary protein aggregates remain within the reference range. Using a sensitive detection method can identify this. Urinary trace albumin refers to mA1B excretion of 30~300mg/24h, which is above the normal upper limit (30mg/24h) but has not yet reached the intermediate clinical proteinuria level.
This study highlights the importance of early detection and intervention in preventing diabetic nephropathy progression.