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Carlo Mananquil
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CLINICAL CHEMISTRY NON-PROTEIN NITROGENOUS COMPOUNS & KIDNEY FUNCTION TESTS OUTLINE • The Kidney o Kidneys o Nephrons o Functions of Kidney • Non-Protein Nitrogenous Compounds (NPN) o Ammonia o Urea Nitrogen (Blood) o Creatinine o Creatine o Azotemia o Uric Acid • Renal Function Tests: Tests for Glomerular Filtration Rate o Glomerular Filtration Rate • Renal Function Tests: Tests for Renal Blood Flow o Urea Nitrogen Methodologies o Creatinine Methodologies o Uric Acid Methodologies • Renal Function Tests: Tests for Tubular Function o Excretion Tests o Concentration Test THE KIDNEY KIDNEYS • Pair of bean-shaped organs located retroperitoneally on either side of the spinal column. • Has two regions: o Renal cortex (outer) o Renal medulla (inner) • Each kidney contains 1-1.5 million nephrons (functional unit of kidneys) NEPHRONS • The functional unit of each kidney o Filters blood • 5 basic parts: o Glomerulus ▪ Captures filtered blood from afferent & efferent arterioles o Proximal Convoluted Tubule ▪ Reabsorbs sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, glucose, amino acids, proteins, urea and uric acid o Loop of Henle ▪ Major exchange of water and salts ▪ Embedded in renal medulla o Distal Convoluted Tubule o Collecting duct ▪ Final site for either concentrating or diluting urine FUNCTIONS OF KIDNEY • Main function is urine formation o Excretion of waste products (NPN) • Maintenance of blood volume and electrolyte balance. o Aldosterone – is an adrenal hormone that regulates water and salt in the body ▪ Promotes reabsorption of sodium and excretion of potassium by the kidney ▪ When kidney detect increased sodium concentration, it will excrete sodium through urine reabsorbing potassium and vice versa o Vasopressin – aka anti-diuretic hormone; prevents water loss through urination • Maintenance of acid-base balance o By excretion or reabsorption of bicarbonate o Bicarbonate - alkaline; basic component of acid-base balance/buffer system of blood • Endocrine function – produces erythropoietin (RBC production) NON-PROTEIN NITROGENOUS (NPN) COMPOUNDS • Products of metabolic processes (catabolic products/wastes) o Metabolic wastes - has no physiologic function ▪ From muscle, DNA, amino acid degradation o Normally excreted through the urine (normal response of body for substances with no physiologic function) • Useful for assessing kidney function • Plasma contains 20-35mg/dL of NPN compounds. o Urea (45%) o Amino acid (20%) o Uric acid (20%) o Creatinine (5%) o Creatine (1-2%) o Ammonia (0.2%) AMMONIA • Least abundant NPN • Produced by the catabolism of amino acids and by bacterial metabolism in the intestine • Excreted by the kidneys or consumed by the liver to produce Urea o Not easily excreted due to necessary conversion to urea before excretion
• Toxic to the body o Due to increased ammonia concentration • At normal blood pH: most exist as ammonium ion (NH 4 + ) • Used for diagnosis: o Hepatic failure - decreased conversion in liver of ammonia to urea which increases ammonia levels o Inherited deficiencies of urea cycle enzymes o Reye’s syndrome – acute metabolic disorder of the liver (most common among children) • More useful in liver function test • Reference value : 19-60ug/dL (11-35 mmol/L) UREA NITROGEN (BLOOD) BUN • aka Urea • Major end product of protein and amino acid catabolism • Most abundant NPN (40%) • Approximately 80% of the nitrogen excreted • Easily removed by dialysis • Formed through the Krebs-Henseleit (Urea) cycle in liver • First metabolite to increase in kidney disease • Reference value : 8-23 mg/dL (CF to mmol/L: 0.357) • Normal Bun:Creatinine Ratio : 10-20:1 • Assays for urea were based on measurement of nitrogen in blood, hence the name blood urea nitrogen. • Excreted by the kidneys – 40% reabsorbed o Most are reabsorbed which indicate excretory function • <10% of the total are excreted through the gastrointestinal tract and skin. • Decreased : Low protein dietary intake, liver disease, severe vomiting or diarrhea, increase protein synthesis o Low protein diet - low protein synthesis decreasing urea formation from urea cycle o Liver disease - problem in conversion of ammonia to urea; decrease BUN and increased ammonia • Concentration is determined by: o Renal function o Dietary intake o Protein catabolism rate • Clinical Application : o Evaluate renal function ▪ Large fraction of BUN is reabsorbed by kidney o To assess hydration status o To determine nitrogen balance o To aid in diagnosis of renal disease o To verify adequacy of dialysis CREATININE • End product of muscle metabolism derived from creatine and creatine phosphate • Synthesized primarily by the liver from arginine, glycine and methionine • Partially secreted by the proximal tubules via the organic cation transport pathway • Not easily removed by dialysis • Measure the completeness of 24 hour urine collection (urine creatinine). • Synthesis of Creatinine o Creatinine is produced as waste product of creatine and creatine phosphate o Creatine is converted to creatinine by dehydration o Creatine phosphate is converted to creatinine by dephosphorylation. o Creatine may be phosphorylated to creatine phosphate by Creatine kinase • Significance o Creatinine is released into circulation at stable rate proportional to muscle mass o Filtered by glomerulus o Excreted in urine o Plasma creatinine concentration is a function of: ▪ relative muscle mass, ▪ rate of creatine turnover ▪ renal function o Daily creatinine excretion is fairly stable. o Index of overall renal function ▪ Slight disturbance in excretion directly indicate impairment in renal function o Reference value (CF to umol/L: 88.4): ▪ Male : 0.9-1.3 mg/dL ▪ Female : 0.6-1.1 mg/dL ▪ Child : 0.3-0.7 mg/dL
DISEASE CORRELATION • Elevated Creatinine is found is abnormal renal function. • Measurement of creatinine concentration is used to determine: o sufficiency of kidney function o severity of kidney damage o monitor the progression of kidney disease. • Acute Kidney Injury – functional or structural abnormalities or markers of kidney damage (seen in blood, urine, tissue test, imaging studies) present for less than three months. o Associated with retention of creatinine, urea, and other metabolic waste products that are normally excreted by the kidney ▪ Creatinine retention - inc. creatinine o Criteria : Stage Serum Creatinine Criteria Urine Output Criteria 1 >0.3 mg/dL or 150-200% <0.5 mL/Kg for >6hr 2 >200-300% <0.5 mL/Kg for >12hr 3 >300%, 4mg/dL, or acute increase of >0.5 mg/dL <0.3 ml/Kg for >24 hr or anuria >12h CREATINE • Elevated in plasma and urine in o Muscular dystrophy, hyperthyroidism, trauma. • Plasma creatine levels usually normal, but urinary is elevated • Specialized testing – not part of routine lab • Analyzing the sample for creatinine before and after heating in acid solution using an endpoint Jaffe method. • Heating converts creatine to creatinine and the difference between the two samples is the creatine concentration. o Creatine concentration - difference creatinine between heating and after heating AZOTEMIA • Elevated concentration of NPN (urea & creatinine) in blood • Uremia/Uremic syndrome – elevated plasma urea concentration accompanied by renal failure • Causes of urea plasma elevations are: o Prerenal o Renal o Postrenal PRE-RENAL AZOTEMIA • Reduced renal blood flow → less blood delivered to the kidney → less urea filtered • Causes : o Anything that produces a decrease in functional blood volume, include: ▪ Congestive heart failure ▪ Shock ▪ Hemorrhage ▪ Dehydration o High protein diet or increased catabolism (Fever, major illness, stress) RENAL AZOTEMIA • True renal disease • Characterized by damage within the kidney • Damaged kidneys → Poor excretion → Increased Urea • Lab Results : o BUN – abrupt elevation (>100 mg/dL) o Creatinine – slow elevation (20 mg/dL) o BUA – 12 mg/dL o Anemia (due to impairment in EPO production for RBC synthesis) o Electrolyte Imbalance (due to electrolyte balance function) • Causes : o Acute/chronic renal disease o Glomerulonephritis o Tubular necrosis • Complications : o Coma o Neuropsychiatric changes POST RENAL AZOTEMIA • Usually the result of Urinary Tract Obstruction • Urea level is higher than creatinine due to back-diffusion/ reabsorption of urea into the circulation. • Causes : nephrolithiasis, renal calculi, cancer/ tumors of genitourinary tract, severe infection o Nephrolithiasis - presence of stones in the nephrons URIC ACID (BUA) • Major product of purine (adenine and guanine) catabolism • The final breakdown of nucleic acids catabolism in humans o Ingested nucleoproteins o Endogenous nucleoproteins (nucleic acids in body) o Direct transformation of endogenous purine nucleotides • Formed from xanthine by the action of xanthine oxidase in the liver and intestine. • Uric acid is transported to kidney and filtered (70%) o About 1 gram of uric acid is excreted normal o 98% reabsorbed in PCT o Some secreted by DCT o Net amount 6-12% of filtered amount • Remaining 30% by GIT • Clinical Significance o Present in plasma as monosodium urate (95%) o At plasma pH → relatively insoluble o Conc. > 6.8 mg/dl → plasma saturated → urate crystals may form & precipitate in tissue o Reference value (CF to mmol/L: 0.059): ▪ Male : 3.5-7.2 mg/dL ▪ Female : 2.6-6.0 mg/dL ▪ Child : 2.0-5.5 mg/dL
o Uric acid is measured to: ▪ assess inherited disorders of purine metabolism ▪ confirm diagnosis and monitor treatment of gout ▪ assist in the diagnosis of renal calculi ▪ prevent uric acid nephropathy during chemotherapeutic treatment ▪ detect kidney dysfunction HYPERURICEMIA • Increased uric acid concentration in blood • Gout o Most common cause of hyperuricemia o Primarily in men and first diagnosed between 3rd and 5th decade of life (30-50 years old) o Pain & inflammation of joints by precipitation of sodium urates in tissues ▪ Definitive diagnosis: presence of “birefringent crystal in synovial fluid” o UA greater than 6.0 mg/dL o Increased risk of renal calculi/nephrolithiasis o Hyperuricemia due to overproduction of uric acid in 25-30% • Increased nuclear metabolism o Occurs in patients on chemotherapy for diseases such as leukemia & multiple myeloma. ▪ Chemotherapeutic drugs increase metabolism of nucleic acids which increases uric acid o Allopurinol inhibits xanthine oxidase, an enzyme in uric acid synthesis pathway, is used to treat these patients. • Chronic Renal Disease o Causes elevated levels of uric acid because filtration and secretion are hindered. o BUA: >10mg/dL (can cause production of urinary tract calculi) • Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (inborn errors of purine metabolism) o It is deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) • Other Causes : 1. Secondary to glycogen storage disease 2. Toxemia of pregnancy and lactic acidosis 3. Increased dietary intake (purine-rich food) 4. Ethanol consumption HYPOURICEMIA • Increased uric acid concentration in blood • Fanconi’s syndrome o Disorder of reabsorption in the PCT of the kidney • Wilson’s disease • Hodgkin’s disease • Overtreatment with allopurinol • Chemotherapy (6-mercaptopurine, azathioprine) • Alzheimer’s disease • Parkinson’s disease RENAL FUNCTION TESTS: TESTS FOR GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE (GFR) • Best overall indicator of the level of kidney function • Measures of the clearance of substances not bound to protein. o Freely filtered by glomerulus o Not secreted not reabsorbed by the tubules. o Substances totally excreted. • 150 liters of glomerular filtrate is produced daily. • GFR decreased by 1.0 mL/minute/year after age 20-30 years • About 180 liters of water if filtered daily • 150 liters is reabsorbed in the PCT • 5 liters in the descending limb of henle of cortical nephrons. CLEARANCE • Removal of the substance from plasma into urine over a fixed time. • It represents the volume of plasma that would contribute all the solute excreted. • Plasma concentration is inversely proportional to clearance • Decreased clearance of substance = increased plasma concentration • Formula : o U – conc. of analyte (urine) o P – conc. of analyte (Plasma) o Volume – Urine volume in mL (24 hours) o Minutes – time required to collect urine (1440 minutes) o 1.73 – ave. body surface of adult individual (0.717 for pediatric) o A – body surface of patient (nomogram: height and weight are taken) • Inulin Clearance Test o Reference method o Inulin : ▪ Exogenous substance (never produced by body) ▪ Introduced via intravenously (500 mL of 1.5% inulin solution) ▪ Urine collection are times over many hours o Amount of inulin administered should be near the amount excreted o Not routinely done due to the necessity for continuous IV infusion o Alternatives to Inulin ▪ Radioactive marker: 125I-iothalamate & 99mTc-DTPA ▪ Iohexol and Chromium 51-labelled EDTA ▪ Nonradiolabeled iothalamate o Reference value: ▪ Male : 127 mL/min ▪ Female : 118 mL/min • Creatinine Clearance o Best alternative method to Inulin o Creatinine – endogenous substance freely filtered by the glomeruli but not reabsorbed (excreted in urine) ▪ Production and excretion of creatinine are directly related to muscle mass. ▪ Excretion is not routinely affected by diet – 1.2- 1.5 g creatinine excreted/day. o Excellent measure of renal function ▪ Kidney issues may affect excretion of creatinine o Measure of completeness of 24 hour urine collection o Serum creatinine should be collected within 24 hour urine collection (for comparison) o Major limitation : accurate urine collection ▪ w/in 24 hours, all urine voided should be collected o Reference value : ▪ Male : 85-125 mL/min ▪ Female : 75-112 mL/min
o Creatinine Clearance Formula : ▪ Affected by body surface area and correction for body mass should be included in the formula • 1.73/A = correction factor (std. body surface area for adults) o Cockcrooft-Gault Formula : ▪ Results are not corrected for body surface area ▪ Assumes that women will have a 15% lower creatinine clearance than men at the same level of serum creatinine o Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Formula (MDRD) ▪ Multiply result by 1.212 if black ▪ Multiply result by 0.742 if female ▪ Provide more accurate assessment of GFR than Cockcroft-Gault formula ▪ Does not require patient weight ▪ Variables : age, serum creatinine, race, gender • Urea Clearance o Demonstrate progression of renal disease or response to therapy o Not reliable GFR – urea is freely filtered but variably reabsorbed by the tubules CYSTATIN C • Test for renal blood flow • Low molecular weight protease inhibitor and produced at a constant rate by all nucleated cells. • Indirect estimate of GFR o Freely filtered by the glomerulus but completely reabsorbed by the tubules (not secreted) o Healthy urine = “0” Cystatin C o Presence in urine denotes damage in the PCT • Not affected by muscle mass, age, diet and gender. • Only kidney function test never measured in urine. • Specimen : serum or plasma • Increased (↓ GFR): acute and chronic renal failure, diabetic nephropathy • Reference value : o Adult : 0.5-1.0 mg/L o >65 years old : 0.9-3.4 mg/L • GFR is computed using Modified Cystatin C Equation : β TRACE PROTEIN • A low molecular weight glycoprotein • Belongs to the lipocalin protein family and functions as prostaglandin D synthase • Isolated primarily from CSF (indirect measure of GFR) o Freely filtered by the glomerulus but completely reabsorbed and catabolized by the proximal tubule. • Increased : Renal disease (because of reduced filtration in the presence if constant production) • GFR formula using β Trace Protein o White Formula ▪ Affected by gender o Page Formula ▪ Unaffected by gender RENAL FUNCTION TESTS: TESTS FOR RENAL BLOOD FLOW UREA NITROGEN METHODOLOGIES • Sample : serum, plasma, urine o Fluoride and Citrate: inhibits urease ▪ Not to be used as anticoagulants o Refrigerate sample if delay in testing is expected ▪ To prevent decomposition of urea by urease-positive bacteria • Assays for urea were based on measurement of nitrogen, hence the name blood urea nitrogen. • 3 methods : o Chemical Method ▪ Diacetyl Monoxime (DAM) Method – non-specific method ▪ Yellow diazine derivative - measured spectrophotometrically o Enzymatic Method o Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry (Reference Method) UREA TO BUN • Atomic mass of Nitrogen = 14 g/mol • Molecular mass of urea = 60 g/mol • Urea = 2 Nitrogen atoms (46.6% of the total weight of urea) • Hence, there is 28 g/mol of Nitrogen per 60g/mol of Urea • Therefore, o 1 gram BUN = 0.4666 g/mol of Urea (28/60) Urea = BUN x 2.14 ENZYMATIC METHODS (BUN) • Urease Method o Hydrolysis of Urea to ammonia by the enzyme urease o Urease – prepared from jack beans o Ammonia may be subjected to Berthelot reagents to form a chromogenic end
o Ammonia and CO 2 can be measured by different method to calculate concentration of urea in sample. ▪ Measurement of ammonia is commonly used • Coupled Urease/Glutamate dehydrogenase (GLD) method o UV Enzymatic Method o Measures consumption of NADH ▪ More consumed NADH = more NAD ▪ NAD inversely proportional to urea CREATININE METHODOLOGIES • Sample : serum, plasma, urine • Interference : hemolysis, ictericia, lipemia • 24 hr urine sample with <0.8 g/day of creatinine indicates that some of the urine was probably discarded o Overall indicator of complete 24hr urine specimen • 4 Methods : 1. Direct Jaffe Method (Chemical Method) 2. Kinetic Jaffe Method 3. Enzymatic Method 4. Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry (IDMS) – reference method DIRECT JAFFE METHOD • Principle : a red-orange tautomer of creatinine picrate is formed when creatinine is mixed with alkaline picrate reagent (Jaffe reagent) • Jaffe reagent : o Saturated picric acid o 10% NaOH o Unstable reagent: prolonged storage may form picramic acid + methyl guanidine (orange color) ▪ Discard when orange color is observed • Interferences : o False increase : ▪ Creatinine-like analytes: Uric acid, ascorbic acid, glucose, α-keto acids ▪ Medications: cephalosporins, dopamine, lidocaine o False decrease : bilirubin, hemoglobin • Folin Wu Method o A sensitive but not specific method • Lloyd or Fuller’s Earth Method o A sensitive and specific method o Removes interferences present in specimen by an adsorbent (creatinine-like analytes) o Adsorbents : ▪ Lloyd’s reagent • Sodium aluminum silicate ▪ Fuller’s Earth Reagent • Aluminum Mg 2+ silicate o Disadvatanges : ▪ Time consuming ▪ Not employed to automated analyzers KINETIC JAFFE METHOD • Requires automated analyzers for precision • Principle : Serum is mixed with alkaline picrate solution and the rate of change in absorbance is measured between two points. o When reagent is added to sample, it will read the intitial absorbance (1 st pt.) o Read another absorbance after another time (2 nd pt.) • Interferences : o False increased : α-ketoglutarate, cephalosporins ENZYMATIC METHOD • Routinely used method; more commonly used method • Used to eliminate non-specificity of the Jaffe reaction • Specific than Jaffe test • Creatinase – creatinine aminohydrolase • Creatinine Aminohydrolase-CK Method o Requires a large volume of pre-incubated sample o Not widely used • Creatinase-Hydrogen Peroxide Method o Has potential to replace Jaffe method (more specific) o W/o interference from acetoacetate & cephalosporins URIC ACID METHODOLOGIES • Sample : serum, heparinized plasma, urine o Serum may be stored for 3-5 days (refrigerator 4C) o For uricase method: EDTA nor fluoride should not be used ▪ Heparinized - preferred anticoagulant o Urine sample (pH 8.0) • Recent meal does not affect the uric acid concentration • Fasting is not required • 3 Methods : 1. Chemical Methods 2. Enzymatic Methods 3. Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry – reference method • Interferences : o False increased : lipemia, salicylates, thiazides o False decreased : high bilirubin, hemolysis
CHEMICAL METHOD • Principle : Reduction-oxidation reaction (redox reaction) • Sodium cyanide (NaCN): Folin, Newton, Brown, Benedict • Sodium carbonate (NaCO3): Caraway, Archibald, Henry • Lag phase – the incubation period after the addition of NaCN/NaCO 3 to inactivate non-uric acid reactants ENZYMATIC METHOD • Uricase method • Specific method • Principle : Uric acid is oxidized to form allantoin by uricase enzyme. • Uric acid : peak absorbance at 293 nm. • Allantoin : not absorbed at 293 nm. • The decrease in absorbance is proportional to the concentration of uric acid RENAL FUNCTION TESTS: TESTS FOR TUBULAR FUNCTION EXCRETION TESTS PARA-AMINO HIPPURATE TEST • Diodrast test • Measures renal plasma flow • This method requires clearance of dye (para-amino Hippurate) • Reference value : 600-700 mL/min PHENOLSULFONTHALEIN (PSP) DYE TEST • Measures excretion of dye proportional to renal tubular mass • Dose : 6 mg of PSP (IV) • Reference value : 1200 mL blood flow/minute CONCENTRATION TEST URINE SPECIFIC GRAVITY • Simplest test • Compares the weight of fluid with that of distilled water at a reference temperature • Affected by solute number and mass o Glucose, urea, protein o SG : 0.003 unit increase = 1% change in protein • Fixed Urine SG = 1.010 o Loss of concentrating ability of kidneys o 1.010 SG is equal to the SG of protein-free plasma • Specimen : first morning urine • Reference value : 1.005-1.030 OSMOLALITY • Expression of concentration in terms of total number of solute particles present per kilogram of solvent (moles/Kg solvent) • More reliable that urine specific gravity • Only affected by the number of solutes present o Urine Osmolality – primarily due to urea o Serum Osmolality – primarily due to Na+ & Cl- o Protein & Lipids do not affect osmolality • Useful for assessing water deficit or excess • Sample : Serum or 24 hr Urine • Reference value : o Serum : 275-295 mOsm/Kg o 24 hr Urine : 300-900 mOsm/Kg • Direct Method o Directly measure osmolality of sample o Methods : ▪ Freezing Point Osmometry (popular method) ▪ Vapor Pressure Osmometry (Seebeck Effect) o An increase in osmolality (solute) decreases freezing point and vapor pressure • Indirect Method o Formula for serum osmolality o To use glucose or urea in osmolality, calculations must be converted from milligram units to molar units o Glucose – not requires fasting INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS • Concentrated urine : o Specific gravity : 1.025 o Osmolality : >800 mOsm/Kg • Chronic renal disease: o Specific gravity : fixed 1.010 on multiple sample o Osmolality : 290 mOsm/Kg • Serum-to-urine osmolality ratio : o 1:1 - Normal o >1:1 – glomerular disease, increased solutes in the urinary filtrate o <1:1 – Distal tubular disease (diabetes insipidus – severe polyuria) ▪ Decreased ADU - reduce suppression of urine which increases urine output causing concentration of serum •
Clinical Chemistry - 09 NPNs and Kidney Function Tests
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