A case of recurrent lupus nephritis after renal transplantation.

A case of recurrent lupus nephritis in an 18-year-old girl with a renal transplant is described. Serological titer of ANA and Anti-DNA were low prior to renal transplantation following pulse therapy with methylpredonisolone and high dose oral predonisolone. A living related transplantation was performed after 6 months of hemodialysis. Maintenance immunosuppressive therapy consisted of predonisolone, mizoribine and cyclophosphamide. Graft function remained stable for one and half years after transplantation. Clinical recurrence was heralded by the development of proteinuria. If the serologic activities had been analyzed, the increase in ANA and Anti-DNA titers a few months before the onset of proteinuria might have predicted a possible histopathological recurrence. Fortunately, however, despite the histological and clinical recurrence of systemic lupus erythematosus, her renal allograft has continued to function fairly well.

Simplified quantification of urinary protein excretion in children.

The protein/creatinine ratio (Up/Uc) measured in 71 early morning urine samples (EMU) correlated closely with timed overnight urine (ONU) protein excretion rates (r = 0.96). The relationship was linear throughout the entire range of normal and abnormal protein excretion, an ONU rate of 1 mg/h/m2 body surface area being proportional to an EMU Up/Uc of 5 mg/mmol. Using the Coomassie Blue dye-binding method the upper limit of Up/Uc in 377 apparently healthy children and adolescents aged 3-19 years was shown to be 20 mg/mmol. Albumin/creatinine ratios (Ua/Uc) were also determined in the 377 healthy subjects, yielding a normal working upper limit of 3 mg/mmol. Although in normal individuals studied longitudinally the day-to-day variation of both Up/Uc and Ua/Uc was appreciable, all measurements remained within the cross-sectional normal range. While the determination of Ua/Uc has a role in the study of "microproteinuria", it is comparatively costly for routine use. The measurement of the EMU Up/Uc avoids errors and difficulties associated with timed urine collection, simplifies sample handling by the laboratory and is inexpensive. In clinical practice this is the method of choice for the quantification of proteinuria in patients with renal disease.