Non-Protein Nitrogen and Kidney Function Flashcards
What is urea?
A major product of protein breakdown
What is urea formed from?
Ammonia and CO2
Where is urea formed?
In the liver
What is ammonia?
Breakdown product of amino acid deamination
How is urea formed?
Ammonia goes through the urea cycle first combining with HCO3
Goes through various reactions, eventually becoming urea
How is urea excreted?
Filtered completely by kidneys
40-60% reabsorbed
What is the normal reference range for urea?
2.5-8.5 mmol/L
What is creatinine?
Waste product of dehydration of creatine and creatine phosphate
Where does creatine come from?
Produced in the hepatocytes and moves to muscles and brain
How is creatine phosphate made?
Creatine is phosphorlayed by creatine kinase (CK) with a phosphorus from ATP
What does creatine phosphate do?
When ATP is depleted from the cell creatine kinase (CK) transfers the phosphate back to the ADP to make ATP
More energy for the cell!
Why is creatinine a good indicator of kidney function?
It is produced at a constant rate proportional to body muscle mass
and
Nearly all of it is filtered by the kidneys
How is creatinine excreted?
Nearly all of it is filtered out by the kidneys
What is uric acid?
Major waste product of purine metabolism
What are examples of purines?
Adenine, guanine
Components of nucleotides, nucleic acids, etc
What increases uric acid levels?
Conditions with high cell turnover
Leukemia, chemotherapy
How is uric acid excreted?
Completely filtered by kidneys
Almost 100% reabsorbed
Excreted
Reabsorbed
Only ~10% filtered
What happens to uric acid at different pH levels?
Low? High?
High pH = soluble urate
Low pH = uric acid, likely to precipitate and crystalize
What is the problem with uric acid at low pH?
It is less soluble and is likely to precipitate and crystalize
What damage can uric acid crystals do?
Painful joints
Gout
Kidney damage and stones
What is the problem with a high blood ammonia level?
It is toxic to the brain and CNS
How should a sample for urea be handled?
Serum/plasma
Store in fridge for up to 5 days or 6 months frozen
What is an indirect urea test actually measuring?
Ammonia
What is an example of a direct urea test?
Diacetyl monoxime
How does the diacetyl monoxime test work?
Diacetyl monoxime converts urea to diazine (yellow)
Measured at 540nm
How can the diacetyl monoxime test be made more stable?
Use thiosemicarbazide or ferric ions to increase stability and increase sensitivity
What is an example of an indirect urea test?
Urease method
How does the urease method work?
Urease hydolyses urea into ammonia
How can a urease test be measured?
- Conductivity
2. Photometry
How is a urease test measured with conductivity?
As the reaction occurs more ions are generated, increasing solution conductivity
The instrument measures the rate in conductivity change
Directly proportional to urea
What are 2 ways a urease test is measured with photometry?
- Urease Berthelot
2. Glutamate dehydrogenase
How does the Urease Berthelot method work?
Ammonium (formed from urea) reacts with phenol and sodium hypochlorite to create a blue indophenol
Measured at 560 nm
How doe the glutamate dehydrogenase urease method work?
Ammmonium ions (formed from urea) are converted into glutamate by glutamate dehydrogenase NADH is converted to NAH at the same time
The decrease in absorbance of NADH is measured at 340 nm
Proportional to urea
How should a specimen for creatinine measurement be handled?
Serum, plasma, urine
Can be stored for 7 days
What does hemolysis do to creatinine results?
Falsely increased result due to release chromagens
What is the basic Jaffe reaction?
Creatinine reacts with picrate ions at alkaline pH to produce a red-orange creatinine picrate
What is the problem with the original Jaffe reaction?
Not specific for creatinine
Also reacts with glucose, protein, etc
What is the more modern creatinine method?
Kinetic Rate Jaffe method
How does the Kinetic Jaffe method work?
Measures the change in absorbance between 2 times measured at 520 nm
How does the Kinetic Jaffe method account for interfering substances?
Other substances will react at different times
The differential reaction rates identifies only creatinine
How can enzymes be used to measure creatinine?
Vitroes uses 4 reagent enzymes to drive reactions with the end point a oxidized dye
The change in reflectance between 2 times is proportional to creatinine
What are the references ranges for creatinine for men, women, and children?
Men 50 - 120 umol/L
Women 40 - 100 umol/L
Children 30-70 umol/L
Define clearance
The volume of plasma from which a measured amount of substance can be cleared by the kidneys into the urine per unit of time
What is creatinine clearance used for?
Assessing glomerular filtration rate
Volume of plasma filtered by kidneys per minute
What is the calculation for creatinine clearance?
P x 86400 s. A
U = urine creatinine umol/L V = 24hr urine volume P = plasma creatinine umol/L A = patients body surface area m^2
What are the specifications made to the patient for a 24 hour creatinine clearance collection?
No coffee, tea, meat, or medication
Ensure adequate hydration
Blood collected at mid-way point
What is the reference range in adults for creatinine clearance?
1.20 - 2.30 mL/sec
What might a decreased creatinine clearance mean?
Decreased kidney function
How is an estimated GFR done?
Calculate value based on serum creatinine