[beta2-Microglobulin in healthy children and in children with renal diseases (author's transl)].

beta2 microglobulin is a plasma protein of low molecular weight (11800), which also appears in urine in small quantities and cerebrospinal fluid. Its serum concentration in healthy children is 0.12 plus or minus 0.04 mg/100 ml, its renal excretion is 0.07 plus or minus 0.05 mg/24 hrs. In glomerular nephropathy serum levels are augmented with diminished GFR, while in tubular nephropathy excretion in the urine is raised considerably. There is a close correlation between serum beta2 microglobulin and GFR.