Elevated atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) level is independently associated with increased urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) in the Chinese urban population, particularly in younger individuals not receiving lipid-lowering therapy.
Higher AIP quartiles were significantly and positively associated with increased odds of albuminuria in Chinese urban adults.
In the fully adjusted model, each successively higher AIP quartile showed progressively greater odds of elevated UACR compared to the lowest quartile.
The association between AIP and elevated UACR was more pronounced among individuals younger than 60 years.
The association between AIP and elevated UACR was more pronounced among individuals not using lipid-lowering medications.
The study design was a cross-sectional analysis of Chinese urban adults using a large-scale population.
This research examined whether a measure of cardiovascular risk called the Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) — which reflects the balance between harmful and protective blood fats — is linked to kidney damage markers in Chinese city-dwelling adults. Kidney damage was assessed using the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), where higher values indicate that protein is leaking into the urine, a sign of early kidney stress. The study found that people with higher AIP values were significantly more likely to have abnormal UACR levels, and this risk increased in a step-wise fashion as AIP rose across four groups. The strongest associations were seen in adults under 60 years old and in those not taking cholesterol-lowering medications. Even after accounting for many other health factors that could explain the relationship, higher AIP remained independently linked to greater albuminuria risk, with those in the highest AIP group having about 81% greater odds of albuminuria compared to those with the lowest AIP levels. This research suggests that AIP — a relatively simple calculation from standard blood lipid tests — may be a useful indicator for identifying people at risk of early kidney damage, particularly younger adults who are not yet on lipid-lowering treatment. The findings highlight a potential connection between abnormal blood fat patterns and kidney health, which could inform preventive strategies, though the cross-sectional design of the study means it cannot prove that high AIP directly causes kidney damage.
Hou Y, Chen S, Wu Q, Zhang Y, Wang H, Cheng Y, et al.. (2026). Association of atherogenic index of plasma with urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio in Chinese urban adults: a cross-sectional study.. Renal failure. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886022X.2026.2657102