What are the dangers of proteinuria

What is proteinuria? Simply put, the protein in the human body is excreted in large quantities in the urine. If it is not treated for a long time, it will cause great harm to the patient's body or induce other serious diseases. So, what are the dangers of proteinuria? If you suffer from proteinuria, you might want to take a look at the adverse consequences these hazards may have on your body. You must take them seriously!

Proteinuria is the most common symptom in patients with clinical kidney disease, especially in patients with chronic nephritis and nephrotic syndrome. Protein is a substance essential to the human body. The leakage of protein in urine will definitely have adverse effects on the body. The occurrence of proteinuria is not only due to the massive loss of nutritious protein, but the appearance of proteinuria will also cause some damage to the renal tubules, glomeruli, etc., causing renal fibrosis.

The hazards of proteinuria are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

(1) Mesangial toxicity of proteinuria can be observed as the accumulation of serum proteins in the glomerular mesangium. The accumulation of these macromolecules in the mesangium can cause mesangial cell damage, proliferation, and increased synthesis of mesangial matrix, thereby producing glomerular sclerosis. In the proteinuric nephropathy model, there is deposition of apolipoprotein B and apolipoprotein A of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) in the glomeruli, and these aggregations can eventually lead to glomerular sclerosis.

(2) Proteinuria has a toxic effect on proximal tubular cells. The amount of protein entering the tubular epithelial cells increases, which increases the activity of lysosomes. This suggests that protein causes lysosomes to overflow into the tubular cytoplasm. The subsequent cell damage can stimulate inflammation and scar formation.

(3) The biological changes in tubular cells caused by proteinuria represent a non-adaptive response, leading to renal failure. There is increasing evidence that proteins can directly regulate tubular cell function, alter their growth characteristics and their phenotypic expression of cytokines and matrix proteins, leading to the release of PDGF, FN, and MCP-1 from the basal side of the tubules, inducing a fibrotic process.

(4) Proteinuria aggravates tubular interstitial hypoxia, which can cause tubular cell hypoxia and thus tubular cell damage.

It can be seen from this that the harm of proteinuria cannot be ignored. Experts also warned that patients with proteinuria are most likely to develop uremia, which is a very serious disease. Therefore, patients with proteinuria must not delay the disease. It is most important to take effective, reasonable and regular treatment in time to minimize the harm to the body.