A clinical study on urinary kallikrein in patients with renal diseases.

The urinary kallikrein activity (KA) was measured to investigate its significance in the renal diseases by using tosyl-arginine methyl ester (TAME) as a substrate. The examinees were 94 patients with renal diseases and 25 normal persons. The daily urinary kallikrein excretion (KE, KE=KAxdaily urinary volume) is less in chronic glomerulonephritis and outstandingly less in chronic renal failure than in the normal controls. The KE also shows a positive correlation moderately to 15-min PSP excretion and relatively to creatinine clearance. KE is closely related to renal function and decreases with the degree of renal damage. KA has no relation to the concentration of urine protein, but it was parallel, in general, to the urokinase activity. In nephrotic syndrome, KA tends to show a negative correlation to the urinary alpha 1-antitrypsin. alpha 1-antitrypsin may have a function as an inhibitor to the urinary kallikrein.