Can Lupus Cause Protein in Urine

Lupus can cause protein in urine directly if we do not bring it under control. Lupus is an autoimmune disease and sometimes, it can generally refer to SLE (Systematic Lupus Erythematosus). It can affect various systems of our body like kidney, skin, heart and joints and so on. Usually, when kidneys are affected by lupus, protein occurs in urine.

Kidney disease caused by lupus is formally called Lupus Nephritis and it is a disease of the immune system with six stages. Stage I Lupus Nephritis has a normal appearance under light microscopy, but mesangial deposits are visible under electron microscopy. In addition, urinalysis is typically normal in stage I Lupus Nephritis. Stage II disease is called mesangial proliferative and marked by hematuria with or without proteinuria. Stage III disease (focal lupus nephritis) is usually diagnosed when there are sclerotic lesions and in stage III Lupus Nephritis, less than 50% of the glomeruli are involved. Besides, similar with stage II Lupus Nephritis, Stage III disease also brings hematuria with or without proteinuria. In stage IV Lupus Nephritis, both hematuria and proteinuria present and in this stage, more than 50% glomeruli are damaged. In stage V Lupus Nephritis, proteinuria and hematuria become more serious. Additionally, elevated blood pressure and gross hematuria may occur as well. The final stage of Lupus Nephritis involves more than 90% of glomeruli and in this stage, Lupus Nephritis actually has developed to kidney failure stage.

Occurrence of protein in urine is just one of the clinical manifestations of kidney damages. Since lupus can cause kidney problem, protein may occur in urine. Also, the protein in urine also can reflect how serious the Lupus Nephritis is to some extend. Therefore, for people with lupus, once protein is detected in urine, they should be alert about their kidney function.

Lastly, Lupus Nephritis is a disease of immune system and secondary to lupus. Therefore, to avoid the worsening of proteinuria and the progression of kidney problem, keeping lupus under control is very necessary and helpful.