Urinary Iron Excretion in Nephrotic Syndrome

Abstract

Quantitative studies revealed losses of appreciable amounts of iron in 2 patients with the nephrotic syndrome. Increased urinary iron losses amounting to as much as 20 to 100 times the normal values were observed, but the amount of iron excretion did not exceed 0.5 mg/day. Therefore an anaemia cannot be explained by this iron loss. Furthermore, it is postulated that the ratio iron: transferrin in the serum influencesthe urinary iron loss in these patients.