[Serum ribonuclease and its importance for renal diagnosis (author's transl)]

Ribonuclease activity in the serum is recommended in the literature for the diagnosis of tumors, especially carcinoma of the pancreas. On the other hand it has long been suspected that serum RNAase increases when renal function is reduced. It is shown that the RNAase activity in human serum correlates well the creatinine clearance. Tumor diseases are frequently coupled with reduced renal function which leads to a rise in RNAase. The serum RNAase activity is therefore only of limited application for tumor diagnosis. The rise in RNAase activity in the serum is, however, a useful measure for the reduced renal function. The analysis of serum RNAase could replace the determination of creatinine clearance.