Proteinuria in Chronic Cadmium Poisoning

Abstract

In 18 of 40 cadmium workers comprising the material for an earlier study on proteinuria in chronic cadmium poisoning, excreted protein was determined by the biuret method and total urinary proteins and the low molecular weight protein fraction were examined by electrophoretic and immunoelectrophoretic techniques. The excreted muramidase, ribonuclease, glucose, [alpha]-amino acid-N, and phosphorus were estimated. Compared with the findings at the previous examination there was on the whole no increase in the protein excretion or any change in the electrophoretic patterns. The pattern typical for tubular proteinuria, with a small albumin fraction and large [alpha]2, [beta], and gamma-fractions, remained. Starch gel electrophoresis on urines from some subjects disclosed post-gamma fractions. The excretion of low molecular weight proteins (10.000-30.000) was correlate with the excretion of total protein. Immunoelectrophoresis disclosed some 30 proteins in the urinary colloids of the cadmium workers. Urinary colloids in general contain about 50 proteins. There was no evidence of a protein specific for chronic cadmium poisoning. Moderate glycosuria was found in one half of the cadmium workers, but the excretion of amino acids and phosphorus was usually within the limits of the controls. There was no correlation between the amounts of these substances and the total urinary protein.