Albuminuria

More than the normal amount of albumin in the urine. Albumin is the main protein in human blood and it is the key to the regulation of the osmotic pressure of blood. Some albumin is normal in the urine. But too much albumin in the urine means that protein is leaking through the kidney, most often through the glomeruli. Albuminuria can mean many things. Thus, for example, albuminuria may be a sign of significant kidney disease or it may simply be a sequel of vigorous exercise. Albuminuria is a form of proteinuria.

* * *

Presence of protein in urine, chiefly albumin but also globulin; usually indicative of disease, but sometimes resulting from a temporary or transient dysfunction. SYN: albuminorrhea, proteinuria (2). [albumin + G. ouron, urine]

- adolescent a. functional a. occurring at about the time of puberty; it is usually cyclic or orthostatic a..

- adventitious a. a. resulting from the presence of blood escaping somewhere in the urinary tract, of chyle, or of some other albuminous fluid, not caused by filtration of albumin from the blood through the kidneys. SYN: false a..

- a. of athletes a form of functional a. following excessive muscular exertion.

- Bamberger a. obsolete term for hematogenous a. that is sometimes observed during the later phases of advanced anemia.

- benign a. a collective term for types that are not the result of pathologic changes in the kidneys. SYN: essential a..

- cardiac a. a. caused by congestive heart failure.

- colliquative a. an a. that is at first slight in degree, but unexpectedly becomes greatly increased during convalescence from highly febrile disease, e.g., typhoid fever.

- cyclic a. a functional a. sometimes observed intermittently in cycles of 12–36 hours' duration, chiefly in younger persons; the degree of a. is usually slight. SYN: recurrent a..

- dietetic a. the excretion of protein in the urine following the ingestion of certain foods.

- essential a. SYN: benign a..

- false a. SYN: adventitious a..

- febrile a. a. associated with fever.

- functional a. a collective term denoting types of benign a. that are associated with physical exertion or other conditions in which there are physiologic changes such as during pregnancy or adolescence. SYN: physiologic a. (2).

- intermittent a. functional a. occurring at intervals, such as cyclic a. or a. of athletes.

- lordotic a. so-called on the theory that the a. results from pressure due to lordosis in the lumbar spine.

- neuropathic a. a. associated with epilepsy or other convulsive disorders, trauma to the brain, and cerebral hemorrhage.

- orthostatic a. the appearance of albumin in the urine when the patient is erect and its disappearance when recumbent. SYN: orthostatic proteinuria, postural proteinuria, postural a..

- physiologic a. 1. presence of slight traces of protein in otherwise normal urine; 2. SYN: functional a..

- postrenal a. a. caused by disease distal to the kidney.

- postural a. SYN: orthostatic a..

- prerenal a. a. caused by disease other than disease of the kidney or genitourinary tract.

- recurrent a. SYN: cyclic a..

- regulatory a. transitory a. occurring after unusual physical exertion.

- transient a. a. of a temporary or short-lived nature.

* * *

al·bu·min·uria al-.byü-mə-'n(y)u̇r-ē-ə n the presence of albumin in the urine that is usu. a symptom of disease of the kidneys but sometimes a response to other diseases or physiological disturbances of benign nature

al·bu·min·uric -'n(y)u̇r-ik adj

* * *

(proteinuria)

n.

the presence of serum albumin, serum globulin, or other serum proteins in the urine. This may be associated with kidney or heart disease. Albuminuria is not always associated with disease: it may occur after strenuous exercise or after a long period of standing (orthostatic albuminuria).

* * *

al·bu·min·uria (al″bu-mĭ-nuґre-ə) 1. the most common kind of proteinuria, characterized by presence of albumin in the urine. 2. sometimes used as a synonym for proteinuria in general.