UROMUCOID (TAMMHORSFALLS MUCOPROTEIN) IN AMNIOTIC-FLUID AND IN URINE IN CHILDREN

Uromucoid (Tamm-Horsfall''s mucoprotein) was not detected in amniotic fluid from pregnancies with gestational age 12-18 wk, but was detected in 5 of 9 samples of amniotic fluid from full-term pregnancies and in urine from all full-term infants investigated in the 1st day of life. Uromucoid excretion under normal conditions apparently establishes near term. Change from intrauterine to extrauterine life may rapidly induce uromucoid excretion, as this protein was found in premature infants (32-34 wk of gestation) at the 2nd day of life. Healthy newborn infants had a lower uromucoid concentration in urine than children 7-13 yr old. In newborns with uncomplicated prematurity, idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome and full-term asphyxiated newborns, the uromucoid concentration in urine during the 1st wk of life was not different from healthy newborn infants. Though uromucoid the major constituent of hyaline casts, the excretion of casts did not correlate to the uromucoid concentration.