In: Biology
A 16-year-old male goes to his physician for an annual checkup. A routine urinalysis indicates the presence of blood, an increase in protein, and an increase in urea. The young man reports that he has been feeling tired and has a persistent cough. The doctor orders additional laboratory testing, including a serum test for rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody testing, anti-streptolysin O testing, and testing for the presence of anti–basement membrane antibodies. Only the latter test was positive. What disease is the most likely cause of the symptoms?
According to the diagnosis of the patient, it must be noted that the laboratory reports for streptolysin antigen are negative. This clearly suggests that the patient is not suffering from bacterial infection of the urinary tract. However, the findings that there are evident proteinuria and hematouria in the patient clearly suggest that the filtration capabilities of the urinary tract have been compromised probably due to disintegration of the memrane. Positive results for anti-basement membrane suggests faulty urine filtration leading to leaky proteins and cells.
However any chronic infection might be a cause of this urinary problem and discrete antibiotic treatment might help the patient.