Urinary exosome miR-146a is a potential marker of albuminuria in essential hypertension.

Our results indicate that miRNAs were enriched in the urinary exosome subpopulation in hypertensive patients and that low miR-146a expression in exosomes was associated with the presence of albuminuria. Thus, urinary exosome miR-146a may be a potentially useful tool for studying early renal injury in hypertension.