Abstract

Myoglobinuria, subsequent to rhabdomyolysis, may cause acute renal failure. For this reason, many qualitative and quantitative tests have been developed for the detection of myoglobin in urine. The authors describe the adaptation and optimization of the Stratus II serum myoglobin immunoassay to quantify urine myoglobin. In addition, the assay was used to accurately determine urine myoglobin concentrations in subjects at potential risk for myoglobin-induced renal dysfunction and the results obtained compared to conventional qualitative methods for urine myoglobin. The assay demonstrated with-in run and between-run coefficient of variations (CVs) of 6.2% and 7.2%, respectively, was linear from 0-950 micrograms/L, demonstrated good recovery, and was free from interference by hemoglobin, creatinine, and urea. Specimens were diluted with 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer, pH 9.0 containing 3% bovine serum albumin before analysis. Myoglobin was assayed on urine obtained from 30 patients suspected of having myoglobinuria. Fifteen of 17 patients with serum creatinine greater than 1.4 mg/dL had myoglobin concentrations greater than 20,000 micrograms/L, whereas the remaining 31 patients with normal serum creatinine had urine myoglobin concentrations of less than 18,000 micrograms/L. If serum creatinine is used as an indicator of renal function, it would appear that accurate measurement of urine myoglobin may facilitate identification of patients with increased susceptibility to myoglobin-induced acute renal failure.