Urinary excretion of three specific renal tubular enzymes in patients treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).

Ten patients, mean age 51.50 +/- 3.03 years, with degenerative rheumatism on NSAID treatment without any sign of renal disease, and 11 control subjects, mean age 43.50 +/- 1.51 years, were studied. NSAID treatment was of 11.30 +/- 5.60 weeks duration in average, with ibuprofen, naproxen, or indomethacin. Urinary excretion of three specific renal tubular enzymes--AAP: alanine-amino-peptidase, GGT: gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase, and beta-NAG: beta-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, were determined in 8-h overnight urine samples, as well as GFR creatinine clearance/1.73 m2, urinary volume/8 h, specific gravity of the urine, proteinuria and glucosuria. In the group treated with NSAIDs, urinary excretion of the enzymes was significantly higher than in the control group--AAP: 1414.20 +/- 317.60, 864.20 +/- 94.42, p < 0.00001; GGT: 8034.6 +/- 1378.55, 5095.64 +/- 614.40, p < 0.00001, and beta-NAG: 1644.60 +/- 299.97, 964.82 +/- 142.00, p < 0.00001. Patients on NSAID treatment showed abnormal urinary excretion of AAP in 7/10 cases, of GGT in 6/10, and of beta-NAG in 7/10 cases. Duration of the treatment did not correlate with the urinary excretion of the enzymes. Age was in correlation with the urinary excretion of the enzymes only in the control group, r = 0.52, p < 0.005 for AAP, r = -0.43, p < 0.02 for GGT, and r = -0.23, p < 0.05 for beta-NAG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)