THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE URIC ACID, UREA and CREATININ OF THE BLOOD IN NEPHRITIS

Abstract

In an earlier communication¹ attention was called to the practical value of the estimation of the creatinin of the blood in nephritis. It was pointed out that an appreciable retention of creatinin indicated a grave impairment in the functional condition of the kidney, for the reason that creatinin is normally the most readily eliminated of the three nitrogenous waste products—uric acid, urea and creatinin. In contrast to creatinin, however, uric acid is apparently eliminated by the kidney with difficulty. It is, therefore, not surprising that conditions of moderately decreased kidney permeability should be encountered, in which only the concentration of the uric acid of the blood should be raised. This appears to be the case in gout and early interstitial nephritis. In the present paper it is our intention to lay emphasis on those cases in which the permeability of the kidney is not sufficiently