ABSTRACT
Background and aim: Quantitative 24 hour urinary protein excretion is the gold standard for the evaluation of proteinuria. However there are some problems in urine collection. An alternative to time urine collection is the use of spot samples for the calculation of the protein: creatinine ratio (Upr/Ucr) or the albumin: creatinine ratio (Ua/Ucr) . The aim of this study is to evaluate the Upr/Ucr ratio for 24 hours urinary protein excretion in patients with kidney transplantation receivers (KTrs), diabetic nephropathy (DN) and chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN).
Patients and Methods: Study group was consisted of one hundred ninety cases (90 females, 100 males, mean age 41.8 ±12.9 years). Upr and Ucr were measured in morning spot urine samples and SUpr/Ucr was calculated for each patient. Daily urinary protein excretion was measured in 24 hour urine samples. Glomeular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by Cockroft Gault Formula.
Results: The spot morning Upr/Ucr was significantly correlated with 24 hours Upr excretion rate in all groups: p values were 0.92, 0.97 and 0.96 for DN, KTrs and CGN, respectively. The correlation in different levels of proteinuria: <1 g/day, 1-3 g/day and > 3 g/day were statistically significant (p<0.001). Similar correlations were found in different threshold for GFR: <30 ml/min, 30-60 ml/min and >60 ml/min.
Conclusion: Significant correlation was found between Upr/Ucr in spot urine and daily protein excretion. Daily proteinuria can be calculated as y= 1,09x + 0,095 (y= daily proteinuria, x= Spot Upr to Ucr ratio). We found that Upr/Ucr is a simple and valid method and can be used easily to detect daily proteinuria both in different degrees of proteinuria and also in different GFR levels in KTrs as in DN and CGN.
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