Clinical usefulness of cellulose acetate electrophoresis as a screening of proteinuria in childhood.

Urine samples from 110 patients with different proteinuric diseases in childhood were analysed by Cellulose Acetate Electrophoresis (CAE) and several samples were also analysed by Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). CAE allowed the classification of proteinurias into 4 patterns; Tubular, Glomerular I, Glomerular II and Glomerular III, by albumin/globulin ratio, value of % gamma globulin fraction (% gamma) and alpha 1/alpha 2 globulin ratio. Proteinurias of the Tubular pattern included various diseases with tubular proteinuria, while proteinurias of the Glomerular I, II and III patterns included mainly postural proteinuria, proteinuria of nephrotic syndrome and proteinuria of various nephropathies, respectively. SDS-PAGE confirmed the tubular and the glomerular origins of the proteins. In the present study we described the clinical usefulness of CAE in the screening of proteinuric children for the following reasons. This method could be performed easily and immediately. This is one of the necessities for mass screening of proteinuric children. CAE can be helpful as one of indications of renal biopsy, since patients with the Glomerular III pattern often showed glomerular alterations and should be diagnosed histologically. Good correlation between % gamma and clinical data was found in follow-up study, so CAE is also helpful in understanding the disease course. Thus. CAE is recommended as a routine screening method of proteinuria as well as SDS-PAGE.