Associated conditions
Proteinuria may be a sign of renal (kidney) damage. Since serum proteins are readily reabsorbed from urine, the presence of excess protein indicates either an insufficiency of absorption or impaired filtration. Diabetics may suffer from damaged nephrons and develop proteinuria.
Conditions with proteinuria as a sign
Proteinuria may be a feature of the following conditions such as, nephrotic syndromes (i.e. intrinsic renal failure), toxic lesions of kidneys, amyloidosis, collagen vascular diseases (e.g. systemic lupus erythematosus), dehydration, glomerular diseases, strenuous exercise, stress, IgA nephropathy, IgM nephropathy, diabetes mellitus (diabetic nephropathy), drugs (e.g. NSAIDs, nicotine, penicillamine, lithium carbonate, antibiotics, or opiates (especially heroin), infections (e.g. HIV, syphilis, hepatitis, poststreptococcal infection), aminoaciduria, hypertensive nephrosclerosis, sickle cell disease, hemoglobinuria, multiple
myeloma, myoglobinuria, organ rejection (Kidney transplant patients may have gamma-globulins in their urine if the kidneys start to reject), systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, glycogen storage disease type 1, and urinary tract infection which has spread to the kidney(s). Conditions with proteinuria consisting mainly of Bence-Jones proteins as a sign are waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, amyloidosis, malignancies (e.g., lymphoma, other cancers), multiple myeloma.
