Serum Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein levels in health and in renal disease.

Serum Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (THG) concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay in a group of 95 people with normal renal function and lay in the range of 70 to 540 ng/ml. None was detectable in 6 anephric patients. Patients on hemodialysis but with both kidneys in situ had concentrations below the lower limit of normal, and in some cases THG was undetectable. Healthy kidney donors generally showed a decrease in serum levels following uninephrectomy although these remained within the normal range. In contrast, all transplant recipients showed a marked increase in serum THG concentration, the rates of rise being apparently dependent upon initial graft function. These findings support the view that THG is a normal constituent of human serum whose levels are related to the amount of renal functioning mass.