comparison of spot urine protein-creatinine ratio with 24-hour urine protein excretion in women with preeclampsia

Proteinuria is an important diagnostic component of preeclampsia. We prospectively compared the results of spot urine protein-creatinine [P/C] ratio with 24-hour urine protein excretion in women with preeclampsia. A total of 81 pregnant women with preeclampsia were prospectively studied for proteinuria. Urine P/C ratio was determined in a spot mid-stream urine sample, and the amount of protein excretion was measured in 24-hour urine collected on the subsequent day. The correlation between the spot P/C ratio and 24-hour urine protein excretion was assessed. Diagnostic value of P/C ratio was expressed in terms of specificity and sensitivity. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the best discriminator values of the spot urine P/C ratios for preeclampsia [proteinuria >/= 300 mg/24 h]. There was a strong correlation between the spot P/C ratio and 24-hour urine protein excretion [r = 0.84; P < .001]. The optimal spot P/C ratio cutoff point was 0.20 for 300 mg/24 h of protein excretion [preeclampsia], with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 91.2%, 87.8%, 94.4%, and 96.8%, respectively. The spot P/C ratios less than 0.19 yielded a sensitivity of 100% for exclusion of preeclampsia. We found that there is a significant correlation between the spot urine P/C ratio and 24-hour urine protein excretion in women with preeclampsia. Urine P/C ratio could be used for exclusion of preeclampsia

Occupational lead exposure and kidney functions

Cases included 90 workers occupationally exposed to lead for a period of 15 +/- 3.2 years. An equal number of controls were selected from workers who had never reported occupational expoure to lead. Levels of current as well as remote exposure to lead were higher among exposed compared to the controls. Total urinary protein levels were nearly the same in both groups but urinary alpha 1 microglobulin was significantly higher in the exposed group. The high levels of the alpha 1 microglobulin were positively correlated with blood lead levels, urinary sigma amino levulinc acid, hair lead concentrations and duration of exposure to lead. All lead exposure parameters as well as urinary alpha microglobulin returned back to levels comparable to those of the controls after cessation of exposure for 120 days

Proteinuria selectivity in childhood nephrotic syndrome

To assess the value of proteinuria selectivity index [PSI] in predicting the response of children with nephrotic syndrome to corticosteroid therapy and its correlation with renal biopsy findings. Setting: Paediatric Department, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Dublin, Ireland. Design: Retrospective analysis of the records of 39 children admitted to the above hospital with nephrotic syndrome. PSI was performed for all children prior to therapy. All received corticosteroid therapy according to the protocol of International Study of Kidney disease in Children for initial attacks and relapses. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to their response to steroid; steroid responsive infrequent relapsers [n.15], steroid responsive frequent relapsers [10] and steroid resistant [8]. PSI of < 0.01 was statistically significant in differentiation between the steroid responsive and resistant nephrotic syndrome. All children in the latter group had non-minimal change lesions on biopsy. Protein selectivity index should continue to be one of the valuable initial tests in childhood nephrotic syndrome due to its useful additional predictive value on the response to steroid in those patients

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in pre-eclampsia

This study was conducted on forty subjects, twenty of them were normal pregnant control subjects [group I] and twenty pre-eclamptic patients [group II]. All groups were subjected to full history taking, careful clinical examination and laboratory investigations that included: vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and Doppler ultrasonography of umbilical artery. The results showed a significant increase in vasoactive intestinal polypeptide level in the pre-eclamptic group than the control group. The increase may represent a powerful compensatory mechanism to restore vascular perfusion to different organs including uteroplacental unit. We suggest that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide or its analogues can be used in the treatment of preeclamptic disorder

Renal tubular involvement in experimental alloxan diabetes

The present study demonstrated that, tubular dysfunction among alloxan diabetic rats could be illustrated among a lower number of the diseased animals at relatively longer duration periods of the disease. It is suggested that, periodical evaluation of urinary proteins among diabetic patients is of great importance to detect any abnormality early at the proper time to enforce necessary medical treatment to avoid unnecessary undesirable further complications in kidney function

Determinaçäo de mercúrio, proteinas, sódio e potássio em amostras de urina de cirurgiöes-dentistas expostos ocupacionalmente ao mercúrio / Mercury, proteins, sodium and potassuim determination in urine samples of dentist occupationally exposed to mercury

Foram realizadas determinaçöes de mercúrio, proteínas, sódio e potássio urinários em indivíduos näo expostos ocupacionalmente ao mercúrio (GRUPO CONTROLE, n = 31) e em cirurgiöes-dentistas que utilizavam o mercúrio elementar no preparo de amálgamas (GRUPO EXPOSTO, n = 120). Os resultados revelaram que 40% dos profissionais do grupo exposto apresentaram níveis urinários de mercúrio superiores a 10 micron-grama/l de urina e l,6%, acima de 50 micron-grama/l de urina. Verificaram-se também diferenças estatisticamente significativas nas excreçöes urinárias de proteínas (p < 0,02) e sódio (p < 0,01), entre os grupos controle e exposto