ABSTRACT
The incidence of anisotropic lipid material in the urine increases significantly with the degree of proteinuria. Lipid crystals were seen in all cases of nephrotic syndrome studied and in 11 of 28 non-nephrotic subjects with abnormal amounts of protein excretion per day. In 10 subjects without or with normal amounts of protein excretion per day, anisotropic lipid particles were not seenWhen the clinical diagnosis of all the subjects studied were divided into 2 groups as to whether they are known or not known causes of nephrotic syndrome, it was found that anisotropic lipid bodies were seen significantly more often in the former group. This observation among the non-nephrotic subjects inevitably leads to the question whether they can be regarded as pre-nephroticsThere was no correlation seen with serum albumin, non-protein nitrogen and total cholesterol with the excretion of urinary anisotropic lipid material. The lack of correlation with plasma levels of total cholesterol was surprising in view of the fact that Maltese crosses are composed of cholesterol ester and free cholesterol. This finding strengthens the observation that a renal factor possibly the presence of glomerular damage is a requirement for the occurrence of cholesteroluria. (Summary)