Causes

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Your kidneys filter waste products from your blood while keeping what your body needs — including proteins. However, some diseases and conditions allow proteins to pass through the filters of your kidneys, causing protein in urine.

Conditions that can cause a temporary rise in the levels of protein in urine, but don't necessarily indicate kidney damage, include:

  1. Dehydration (when the body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to work as it should)
  2. Exposure to extreme cold
  3. Fever
  4. Strenuous exercise

Tests to identify protein in urine are critical for diagnosing and screening for diseases of the kidneys or other conditions affecting kidney function. These tests are also used to monitor disease progression and treatment effect. These diseases and conditions include:

  1. Chronic kidney disease
  2. Diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease)
  3. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS)
  4. Glomerulonephritis (inflammation in the kidney cells that filter waste from the blood)
  5. High blood pressure (hypertension)
  6. IgA nephropathy (Berger disease) (kidney inflammation resulting from a buildup of the antibody immunoglobulin A)
  7. Lupus
  8. Membranous nephropathy
  9. Multiple myeloma
  10. Nephrotic syndrome (damage to small filtering blood vessels in the kidneys)
  11. Preeclampsia

Other conditions and factors affecting the kidneys that may result in protein in urine include:

  1. Amyloidosis (buildup of abnormal proteins in your organs)
  2. Certain drugs, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
  3. Heart disease
  4. Heart failure
  5. Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease)
  6. Kidney infection (also called pyelonephritis)
  7. Malaria
  8. Orthostatic proteinuria (urine protein level rises when in an upright position)
  9. Rheumatoid arthritis

Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.

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May 05, 2022

See also

  1. Amyloidosis
  2. AskMayoMom Pediatric Urology
  3. Glomerulonephritis
  4. Henoch-Schonlein purpura
  5. How does IgA nephropathy (Berger's disease) cause kidney damage?
  6. I have IgA nephrology. Will I need a kidney transplant?
  7. IgA nephropathy (Berger disease)
  8. Living with IgA nephropathy (Berger's disease) and C3G
  9. New Test for Preeclampsia
  10. Postpartum preeclampsia
  11. Preeclampsia
  12. Understanding complement 3 glomerulopathy (C3G)
  13. Understanding IgA nephropathy (Berger's disease)
  14. Vesicoureteral reflux