Urinary proteins in a patient with Tangier disease.

We have investigated the possibility that the mild proteinuria in a patient with Tangier disease is directly related to the plasma HDL-deficiency through excretion of apolipoprotein A-I (Mr 28,300). An increased urinary excretion of a 29,000 polypeptide was observed in this patient. However, western blot analysis of the urine showed that this protein was not apolipoprotein A-1 or its precursor form. Subsequent investigations identified the urinary protein as immunoglobulin light chains. The elevated excretion may be a consequence of the patient's plasma polyclonal gammopathy which had resulted from a chronic infection.