Microalbuminuria is not a valuable marker for relapse in Crohn's disease.

Background: Previous reports correlated microalbuminuria with disease activity in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of the present study is to determine the value of microalbuminuria as a marker for relapses in quiescent CD.

Methods: In a 1-year prospective maintenance trial with oral budesonide in patients with CD in remission, microalbuminuria was measured at randomization, after 2, 6 and 12 months, plus at the time of a relapse. The association of microalbuminuria with the course of disease was analyzed with logistic regression analysis. Time-dependent Cox regression was undertaken to study the association between microalbuminuria and relapse.

Results: We included a total of 139 patients. At randomization, microalbuminuria was present in 8 patients. During a 1-year follow-up, 29 patients relapsed and in 11% (3/29), microalbuminuria was present during the relapse. We found no statistically significant association between microalbuminuria and relapse (odds ratio 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-1.13). Time-dependent Cox regression analysis also revealed no statistical predictive value for microalbuminuria (hazard ratio 1.29, 95% CI 0.37-4.39, p = 0.68).

Conclusion: Microalbuminuria was moderately prevalent in quiescent CD patients, but it could not be associated with disease characteristics or the type of medication before randomization, nor as a predictor for relapses.