Prevalence of microalbuminuria and diagnostic value of dipstick proteinuria in outpatients from HIV clinics in Bukavu, the Democratic Republic of Congo

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is high in the African HIV infected population [1, 2] where late referral to hospital and scarce possibilities of renal replacement therapy are well known. The early detection of CKD would provide the opportunity to implement strategies known to slow CKD progression [3, 4]. Thus, the identification of overt proteinuria or even microalbuminuria, might be an important tool for the early detection of CKD in HIV-infected individuals [5, 6]. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines on the management of chronic kidney disease in HIV-positive patients recommend the use of a urine dipstick, with a threshold for detection of renal disease at 1+ proteinuria. When dipstick is ≥ 1, a quantification of proteinuria is recommended. Currently, this relies on the albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) measured on a spot of urine [7, 8]. However, in many emerging countries, the dipstick remains the only method used for the evaluation of proteinuria. Nevertheless, it is recognized that dipsticks may have poor sensitivity in detecting low-grade proteinuria [9].

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the prevalence of proteinuria in HIV-positive patients and to assess the diagnostic value of urinary dipstick as screening test for proteinuria compared with the albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR).

Written informed consent for participation in the study was obtained from participants.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in March and April 2012 in 3 outpatient HIV-clinics in Bukavu, the main town in the eastern rural part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Two hundred and sixty consecutive HIV-1 positive adults (≥18 years) who routinely attended one of the clinics during the survey period were screened.

Single spot urine specimens were collected in the morning. Urine samples containing blood (1+ or greater), white blood cells (1+ or greater) and/ or nitrites were excluded. This left 235 subjects in whom, both a urine dipstick test and a urine albumin to creatinine ratio measurement were performed (ACR). The results of urine dipstick (Multistix 8 SG®, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, France) were read as either negative (<30 mg/dl) or positive at 1+, 2+, 3+ or greater, corresponding approximately to protein concentrations of 30, 100 mg/dl , 300 and ≥ 2000 mg/dl. ACR was performed using the DCA Vantage^TM analyzer (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Pyt Ltd., 885 Mountain Highway, Australia), utilizing an immunoassay method for Albumin. Microalbuminuria was defined by a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) 30–299 mg/g and macroalbuminuria by an ACR > 300 mg/g. The diagnostic value (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value) of dipstick ≥ 1+ and ≥ 2 + to detect micro or macro albuminuria was thus assessed.

A total of 260 patients were contacted. Twenty-five had to be excluded because of hematuria (n = 12), detection of nitrites in urine (n = 8) or leucocyturia (n = 5). The 25 excluded patients had demographic characteristics similar to those of the 235 included patients.

A total of 235 patients were thus included, of whom 179 (76.2%) were on antiretroviral therapy. Baseline data are provided in Tables 1, 2 and 3. All patients were African. Median age was 40 years (IQR 18–74) and 73.2% were women.

Median CD4 cell count was 480 cells /mm3 (IQR 10–1202). The overall prevalence of proteinuria according to ACR was 10.6% (95% CI 6.67- 14.53), 8.9% for microalbuminuria (ACR 30–300 mg/g) and 1.7% for macroalbuminuria (ACR >300 mg/g). In contrast, the prevalence of dipstick urine protein (1+), (2+) and (3+) were 37%, 3.4% and 0.9%, respectively.

Regarding the intensity of proteinuria, no difference was observed between the groups receiving antiretroviral versus ART naive patients.

The 235 paired dipstick and quantitative results are displayed in Table 4.

Seventy-six (36.2%) of 210 patients with urine ACR < 30 mg/g had a positive urine dipstick results (false-positive result ≥ 1+). Furthermore, 10 (47.6%) of 21 patients with abnormal low-level albuminuria (UACR 30 to 299 mg/g) had negative urine dipstick results (false-negative result: 1+).

In comparison with ACR > 30 mg/g, urine dipstick had an overall sensitivity and specificity of 60% and 61%, respectively. At a prevalence of proteinuria of 10.6%, the positive predictive value of positive urine dipstick for ACR >30 mg/g was 15.4% and the negative predictive value 92.8%.

The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria in an HIV-infected clinic population in DRC and the performance of the dipstick urine test compared to the ACR. Approximately three quarter of the subjects were women, consistent with other data showing a feminization of HIV infection, particularly in Africa [10, 11].

In the present study, the prevalence of proteinuria with dipstick test (≥1+) was 41.3%. Cohort studies suggest that approximately 30% of HIV-positive individuals have proteinuria (≥1+). Similar results are reported by Fabian et al. in South Africa (44%) [12] and Jao et al. in Cameroon (39%) [13]. However, Struik et al.[14] and Longo et al.[15] reported a lower prevalence, 23 and 21% respectively. Furthermore, the prevalence of quantitative proteinuria defined as ACR ≥ 30 mg/g was 10.6%. This prevalence is similar to that of earlier reports varying from 6% to 30% in the HIV-infected, which is three to five times higher than in the general population [16‐19]. Differences in methodological approach and in clinical profile of patients could probably explain the variability of results between studies.

Although, this study did not address the specific causes of proteinuria in individual subjects, it is likely that proteinuria is related to HIV itself. Experimental studies demonstrate a direct impact of viral components (gp120, TAT) on the endothelium, as they lead to the expression of adhesion molecules (intercellular adhesion molecule [ICAM], E-selectin), a prothrombotic state (increase of von Willebrand factor, plasminogen activator inhibitor-[PAI-]1, tissue plasminogen activator [t-PA], tissue factor). In addition, soluble adhesion molecules (selectin, ICAM) were found to be increased in HIV-infected persons [20]. HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) is the commonest biopsy finding among patients with HIV infection who present with proteinuria. Han et al. reported that 25% of naïve HIV-positive black patients (without hypertension, diabetes and with serum creatinine < 250 μmol/L), have microalbuminuria, and that HIVAN was found in 86% of the subset of such patients with persistent micro albuminuria [19].

The results of our study suggest that the urine dipstick may not be an adequate tool for screening for proteinuria in HIV-positive patients. As a screening test, the sensitivity (60%) and specificity (61%) of a single dipstick is poor. In fact, at lower levels of proteinuria (30 to 299 mg/g), a threshold of 1+ dipstick had a false-negative rate of 47.6%. Therefore, nearly 1 in 2 patients with proteinuria in this range may not be recognized and may have delayed workup and treatment. In addition, the proportion of false positives was 36%. Consequently, one to 3 patients with positive dipstick (1+) could be falsely considered to be at high cardiovascular and kidney risk.

Several studies reported the poor sensitivity of dipstick testing to identify early renal disease in HIV-population [9], hypertensive [21] and diabetic patients [22]. A recent study has demonstrated that the sensitivity of dipstick test, may be affected by urinary concentration [9]. In addition, dipstick tests may miss about one out of five people with kidney disease, and positive dipstick test results for proteinuria may have to be confirmed by other laboratory tests [23]. In fact, in a study of 166 HIV-infected persons who underwent both a urine dipstick and a spot urine protein-to-creatinine ratio within a 48-hour period, 21% of those with low but overt proteinuria (300 to 900 mg/g creatinine) were not detected by urine dipstick. So, in individuals at renal risk, such as HIV + patients, the search for microalbuminuria is recommended when the dipstick is negative. Furthermore, the recent Kidney Disease Initiative and Global Outcome (KDIGO) CKD Guidelines recommend, in individuals with proteinuria by dipstick, to perform confirmatory protein quantification within 3 months [24]. Defining proteinuria as a positive urine dipstick test on two occasions [25] could have reduced the false positive rate in our study, but probably at the expense of an even higher false negative rate.