Albuminuria in the Mechanism of Detoxification

It is our purpose in this paper to present data indicating that the presence of serum proteins in the urine in nephritis is due to their combination with other nitrogenous fractions of tissue origin, some of which are highly toxic. It is our belief that this combination acts as a detoxicating mechanism and that the elimination of this protein by the kidneys is due to alteration of normal serum proteins by their combination with other split protein products which render them foreign to the circulation. It has been apparent for some time that the renal element in nephritis is relatively unimportant and that theories of nephritis based solely on renal damage must be abandoned. The Aldrich and McClure¹intradermal salt test as well as the series of experimental dehydrations reported by one of us²gives ample evidence that Martin Fischer was right in ascribing edema to a greater colloid affinity