Proteinuria and the Onset of Chronic Kidney Disease Sciences Essay (Essay Sample)

Proteinuria and the Onset of Chronic Kidney Disease
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In a normal healthy adult, the rate of excretion of protein through urine is 100-150 mg or below, tested within a 24-hour period (Blaine, 2016; Jayne & Yiu, 2014). This value translates to an amount equal to or lower than 30mg per liter of urine. Urinary protein excretion exceeding this limit, to levels of 200mg/day (40mg/L) or more, is known as proteinuria. The presence of proteinuria is largely asymptomatic, but its diagnosis is one of the key indicators of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Testing urine samples using the dipstick method forms an important starting point in early detection and prevention of end-stage kidney disease.
One of the basic methods of detection of proteinuria is urine testing using a dipstick. In a normal adult, approximately 20% of urinary protein excretion is albumin (Blaine, 2016) while about 50% of this is Tamm-Horsfall protein (THP) (Moxey-Mims, 2007). The standard dipstick detection method involves a reaction between a colorimetric indicator dye such as bromocrescol green and albumin to give a semi-quantitative result that is then used to grade the magnitude of proteinuria (Jayne & Yiu, 2014). Being semi-quantitative implies that the results obtained are highly dependent on factors such as urine concentration, sample contaminants, and urinary pH.