Specimen Requirements

Title

Protein Electrophoresis, 24 Hour Urine

Specimen Requirement

At the start of the 24 hour collection, discard first morning urine, from that time collect all urine for 24 hours. Record total volume of urine, mix well, then aliquot 25 mL to a screw top container. Indicate total volume of 24 hour urine on aliquot and requisition.

Total volume must be recorded for testing.

Methodology

Electrophoresis • Spectrophotometry (SP)

Stability

Room temp: 4 days, Refrigerated: 5 days, Frozen: 30 days

Reference Range

By Report*

Turnaround

1-2 days

Clinical Use

This test is used to analyze the protein content in urine. The proteins are separated into 5 major components: albumin, alpha-1, alpha-2, beta, and gamma. Interpretation of elevations, decreases, or visual changes in different components and/or associated patterns can provide information on various disease states, including inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, different types of kidney injury, plasma cell disorders, and cancers.

Test Code

24PEU