Introduction:

Persistent proteinuria values over 0,15 g in 24 hours in a lupus patient is indicative of nephropathy. Proteinuria value estimated based on the protein-creatinine ratio (PCR) may be useful in diagnosing nephropathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective:

To determine the presence of 24-hour proteinuria in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Methods:

24-hour proteinuria was calculated based on the protein-creatinine ratio (PCR) of 60 patients (75,0 % of white skin, 95,0 % female, 3,3 % 60 or older, 51,6 % with more than 5 years of natural history of the disease) attended at Institute of Rheumatology of Diez de Octubre Clinical Surgical Hospital in Havana, Cuba, between October 2013 and September 2014, and grouped according to the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the time of natural history of the disease.

Results:

The eGFR was over than or equal to 60 mL/min/m2 of body surface in 75 % of the patients and was independent of the natural history of lupus. 53,3 % of the patients showed proteinuria value over 0,15 g in 24 hours. The 24-hour proteinuria value exponentially increased as the eGFR decreased. The longer the natural history of the disease, the higher the values of proteinuria. The behavior of the proteinuria value in 24 hours was similar to that observed with the albuminuria value in 24 hours.

Conclusions:

The estimated 24-hour proteinuria value based on PCR may be indicative of lupus nephropathy even when the GFR is conserved or is over than or equal to 60 mL/min/m2.

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