24-hour urine protein quantification and random urine protein/creatinine ratio

  Kidney disease requires evaluation of the amount of urinary protein excreted, and the 24-hour urinary protein excretion rate measurement is the accepted gold standard, but 24-hour urinary protein quantification is often inaccurate. Because many links very factors can affect the 24-hour urine protein quantification: retention of urine is incomplete, because the urine during stool is difficult to collect; there will also be situations such as forgetting to collect; the effect of preservatives, because there is protein or urine sugar in the urine, it will breed bacteria, urine deterioration, often need to add preservatives in the urine, commonly used preservatives are sodium azide, formalin, hydrochloric acid, etc.. These preservatives themselves cause denaturation of the protein; they are not stirred up when sent for testing; and 24 hours is too long for patients to wait for results.  This has prompted clinical practitioners to look for methods that can replace 24-hour urine protein quantification, and the protein/creatinine ratio of random urine samples is now a commonly used alternative to 24-hour urine protein quantification. There is a very strong correlation between it and 24-hour urinary protein excretion rate, and random urine sample protein/creatinine ratio can be one of the important methods to exclude significant proteinuria (urinary protein excretion rate >300 mg/24h), and using this method may reduce unnecessary 24-hour urine collection.