24h Urine Protein

Proteins are large molecules that are essential for your body to work properly. They have many important functions, including giving your body energy, rebuilding muscles, and helping your immune system. Protein is found in all parts of your body, including your blood. When your kidneys clean waste from your blood, tiny filters prevent the large protein molecules from leaving your body through your urine.

If there is a problem with your kidneys, protein can leak into your urine. High protein levels in your urine over a period of time may be the first sign that kidney disease or another condition has damaged the filters in your kidneys. A protein in urine test can help you find kidney damage early. This may help your health care provider determine the best treatment. You can also start making changes to protect your kidneys.

A 24-hour urine collection captures every drop of urine you make over a full day, which gives a more complete picture of how much protein you are losing than a single sample. The pattern of protein loss can also offer clues about where in the kidney the problem may be (such as in the filters or the small tubes that reabsorb proteins) or whether an unusual protein is being made elsewhere in the body.

If your result is in the normal range, your urine did not contain too much protein when you were tested.

Mildly raised protein in urine can occasionally happen for harmless reasons, such as strenuous exercise, dehydration, your diet, stress, fever, or pregnancy.

Higher amounts of protein over a 24-hour collection often point to kidney disease or kidney damage from another condition. The greater the protein loss, the more likely there is a meaningful kidney problem that needs follow-up.

Very high amounts of protein (for example, more than 500 mg in 24 hours) may prompt your provider to order extra tests to look for a single abnormal antibody-related protein from the bone marrow.

The amount of protein in your urine is linked to the amount of kidney damage you may have, but you'll usually need more tests to find out what's causing the damage. To learn what your results mean, talk with your provider.