Absent Circadian Rhythm of Proteinuria in Hospitalized Patients with Preeclampsia

Abstract

Objective. To study the variation of protein excretion in short-interval day-and-night collections in hospitalized preeclamptic patients on continuous bed rest. Methods. We prospectively studied 50 patients admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of preeclampsia. Urine volumes in 2-, 4-, 12-, and 24-h durations were recorded. Protein concentrations in different volumes of urine were measured. Paired t-test was used to compare the volumes, concentrations, and the total amounts of protein in these samples of different durations. Results. There was no significant difference in the volume of urine and the concentration of proteinuria in the day when compared to night (12-h samples) (p > 0.05). The total amount of protein excreted was comparable for the two durations of samples. For shorter-duration collections (4- and 2-h), the difference in proteinuria between day and night samples remained blunted. Conclusion. This study concludes that there is blunting of variation in protein excretion as observed in short-interval urine collections at different times of the day in hypertensive pregnant patients on continuous bed rest.