Urinary Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein in certain kidney diseases and its content in renal and bladder calculi.

1. Tamm-Horsfall (T-H) glycoprotein has been measured by a specific radioimmunoassay method in the urine of patients with chronic renal failure, cadmium nephropathy and Lignac-Fanconi syndrome, and in renal and bladder calculi. 2. Total T-H glycoprotein excretion/24 h was markedly reduced in patients with chronic renal failure compared with normals. A highly significant correlation was observed between T-H excretion rate and creatinine clearance corrected for surface area, in both normals and patients with renal impairment. However, the mean T-H excretion per functioning nephron unit did not differ significantly in patients with renal failure compared with normals. 3. Total T-H excretion/24 h was in the normal range in patients with cadmium nephropathy despite reduced glomerular filtration rates, owing to a highly significant increase in T-H excretion per functioning nephron unit. Similar findings were obtained in a group of children with LignaoFanconi syndrome whose T-H excretion per functioning nephron unit was much higher than that of normal children in the same age range. This indicates an increased T-H glycoprotein excretion per functioning nephron unit in both these conditions. 4. T-H glycoprotein content of bladder and renal calculi ranged from 0.002 to 5-07 mg/g of calculus. There was no correlation between T-H glycoprotein content and either the total protein content or the qualitative inorganic composition of the stones.