Quantitative studies of urinary immunoglobulins in hospital patients, including patients with urinary tract infection.
The 24-hr urinary excretion and clearances of IgA, IgG, siderophilin and albumin have been determined on specimens from twenty-one hospital patients, nine of whom had urinary tract infection. Patients with normal creatinine clearance and urinary tract infection had significantly increased urinary excretion and clearances of all four proteins, compared to patients with normal creatinine clearance and no urinary tract infection. IgM was found in the urine of five patients with urinary tract infection, and in three of these IgD was also present. There was no evidence that the presence of IgM and IgD in the urine of these patients was a direct result of infection.