Proteinuria in lupus

[samsitr]

My mother was diagnosed with lupus last year in August. Since then, we have are having regular blood/urine(regular/24 hours) test and she is taking steroids and other immunosuppressant medicines along with BP med.

Today's 24 hours urine report shows 1.25 g protein loss and her ESR was also elevated from April 2018. This time it was 38 whereas in April 18 it was 29.

My question is about this? Is it always the case that such high protein leak in urine is associated with some indication of kidney damage or it is just in case of lupus it does happen with no impact to Kidney at all.

[whisperit]

Hello samsitr,

As I understand it, most people with a diagnosis of SLE show histological signs of kidney changes at some level. That doesn't mean that kidney function is necessarily impaired, just that the kidney is a prime site for detecting some of the auto-immune complexes that form in lupus. If/when the disease activity flares or progresses, for some people, it will be seen in functional impairment. You know this, of course, as this is one of the main reasons for monitoring your Mum's proteinuria. The LupusUK leaflet on lupus and the kidney (on the 'home' page of this site) covers the basics.

So as far as your mum's situation goes, I can't really answer your question I'm afraid! But I hope things go well for you both x

[samsitr in reply to whisperit]

Thank you for the response whisperit. Much appreciated. So far the satisfactory factor is that her Creatinine serum is well maintained(in-fact on lesser side only). Yesterday's report shows 0.4 mg/dL as the value. Not really sure if this is good or bad. We have doctor's visit today. Lets see what she says. Thanks once again. God bless.

[MOOG144]

I would ask to see a Kidney specialist as this could be Lupus Nephritis.... I was diagnosed with SLE after developing Nephritis.

Good luck xxx