Predictive value of urinary micro-cholesterol (mCHO) levels in patients with progressive glomerular disease

Trace amounts of lipids are present in the urine of patients with glomerular disease, raising the possibility that the excess lipids reabsorbed by tubule cells may be toxic to these cells. In the present study, we assessed the prognostic value of micro-cholesterol (mCHO) levels in patients with chronic glomerular disease.

The urinary mCHO levels of healthy subjects and patients with chronic kidney disease were measured by the enzymatic cholesterol cycling (ECC) method with a minimum detection level of 0.10 x 10(-3) mmol/L. First, the urinary mCHO levels of healthy subjects and 320 patients with various glomerular diseases with proteinuria >1000 mg/gCr were measured. Second, correlations of urinary mCHO levels with those of various other molecules, including albumin, IgG, IgM, transferrin, phospholipid, alpha1-microglobulin (alpha1MG), Apo A1, Apo A2, and Apo B, and urinary fatty body counts, were determined. Third, urinary mCHO, total protein (TP), albumin, and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) levels were measured longitudinally over 12 months (20.5 +/- 5.8 months) in 68 nondiabetic patients with impaired renal function [serum creatinine (Cr) > or = 1.5 mg/dL]. Correlations of the concentrations of urinary parameters in the initial 3-month period with the slopes of the reciprocal of creatinine versus time for the entire follow-up period were assessed by the ROC method and multiple regression analysis.

Urinary mCHO levels of the healthy subjects were 0.06 to 0.72 mg/gCr for males and 0.16 to 2.34 mg/gCr for females. Urinary mCHO levels in subjects with minimal change nephrotic syndrome were significantly lower than those in the patients with other glomerular diseases with massive proteinuria. Urinary mCHO levels correlated significantly with Apo A1 and Apo A2 levels, but not with urinary Apo B levels, in the latter subjects. The correlation coefficient of urinary fatty body counts (a marker of lipoprotein loading tubulopathy) with mCHO was higher than those with TP, albumin, IgG, IgM, and alpha1MG. The urinary mCHO elevation was significantly greater in patients who had a nonselective index of proteinuria than in those with a highly or moderately selective index. In nondiabetic patients with impaired renal function, the urinary mCHO level had a higher predictive value for rapid decline of renal function than TP, albumin, or NAG.

The urinary cholesterol level corresponds to the magnitude of urinary HDL excretion, and correlates with the degree of lipoprotein loading tubulopathy. Measurement of urinary mCHO by the ECC method is a simple and useful tool for predicting progression of chronic glomerular disease.