ANALYSIS OF URINARY RED-BLOOD-CELLS OF HEALTHY-INDIVIDUALS BY AN AUTOMATED URINARY FLOW CYTOMETER

A newly developed automated urinary flow cytometer allows clear discri mination of erythrocytes from other solid components of urine. In this study, the normal range of the urinary erythrocyte count and the sour ce of urinary erythrocytes in healthy individuals were investigated us ing this analyzer. For the diagnosis of the source of the urinary eryt hrocytes, Kitasato University Kidney Center criteria for this analyzer were applied. The subjects were 133 regularly employed volunteers (ag e range 20-48 years, mean 30.5) who noted no urinary tract symptoms an d showed normal blood pressure, consisting of 41 females not in their menstrual period (age range 20-39 years, mean 24.8) and 92 males (age range 20-48 years, mean 33.1). Mid-stream voided urine was collected f rom these subjects using urine sampling cups, immediately transferred to 50-ml sterilized Spitz tubes, and analyzed within 30 min using the automated urinary flow cytometer. Urinary erythrocytes were derived fr om glomeruli in all samples of healthy subjects. The urinary erythrocy te count showed a logarithmic normal distribution. Values 2 SD of the urinary erythrocyte count in healthy individuals or higher were regard ed as abnormal, and hematuria was considered to be positive when 11.0/ mu l or more erythrocytes were observed by this analyzer. The finding by this analyzer corresponded to the report of Birch et al.