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Microalbuminuria and Macroalbuminuria

May 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Albuminuria occurs when kidneys start leaking albumin into the urine due to high permeability of the kidneys for the albumin.

Microalbuminuria is defined as excretion of between 30 mg and 300 mg of albumin a day  [24 hoursin the urine.

  • Less than 30 mg is insignificant.
  • Over 300 mg is albuminuria or macroalbuminuria.

 

Patients should be tested for proteinuria if they have any of the following risk factors:

  • Glomerular Filtration Rate ≤60 ml/min/1.73 m2.
  • Diabetes
  • Hypertension.
  • Cardiovascular disease.
  • Renal tract disease
  • Renal Stones
  • Prostatic hypertrophy.
  • Family history of chronic kidney disease (CKD)
  • Haematuria
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What Is A Ligand?

January 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Ligand is a substance that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose.

It acts as a signal triggering molecule, binding to a site on a target protein.

the forces included in the binding process may be ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds or van der Waals forces. High affinity ligand binding results from greater intermolecular force between the ligand and its receptor while low affinity ligand binding involves less intermolecular force between the ligand and its receptor. [Read more...]

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Stimulus

February 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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A stimulus (pl. stimuli) is a detectable change in the internal or external environment. The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli is called sensitivity.

When a stimulus is applied to a sensory receptor, it elicits or influences a reflex via stimulus transduction. A stimulus is often the first component of a homeostatic control system.

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Pathogen

February 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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A pathogen is an infectious agent such as a virus, bacteria, prion, or fungus that causes disease to its host.

The body contains many natural orders of defense against some of the common pathogens but if the immune system or “good” bacteria is damaged in any way  pathogenic bacteria can proliferate and cause harm to the host. Such cases are called opportunistic infection.

Types

Viral

Bacterial

Fungus

Parasites

Prions

Prions are abnormal proteins whose presence causes some diseases such as scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

A pathogen can be transmitted through various routes, which differ in different pathogens.

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