title: [Alpha-2-macroglobulin in children with glomerular diseases (author's transl)].
abstract: The serum and urine levels of alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha2-MG) was determined in 33 children with glomerular diseases and in 26 healthy control children. Healthy children showed a minimum level of 275 mg% and maximum level of 337 mg%, with a mean concentration of 301 mg% and a standard deviation of 13 mg%. No alpha2-MG was detected in the urine. Steroid-treated patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome displayed elevated inhibitor levels of up to 490 mg%. This might be a direct result of steroid therapy or a consequence of reactively-increased protein synthesis in response to the renal protein loss. In all these patients the urine was found to be alpha2-MG-negative, irrespective of the presence or absence of proteinuria. In the miscellaneous group of glomerulopathies without the nephrotic syndrome, serum levels of alpha2-MG were shown to be normal. The urinary concentrations of alpha2-MG were related to the activity of the disease. alpha2-MG determination in serum and urine seems to be a tool for differential diagnosis and prognosis in some cases of glomerular disease.
mesh_terms: D000141:Acidosis, Renal Tubular / Q000175:diagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D009394:Nephritis, Hereditary / Q000175:diagnosis; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D011379:Prognosis; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins
vernacular_title: Alpha-2-Makroglobulin bei Kindern mit glomerulären Nierenkrankheiten