Assessment of the degradation of denatured albumin solder by human urine

Purpose: Several studies have been undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of h uman serum albumin (HSA) as a solder in urologic procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether albumin solder undergoes significant de gradation in urine. Materials and Methods: Laser denatured 25% HSA pellets were incubated at 37 C for varying times with 1 mi. of either pooled human urine or control dilu ent solution adjusted to the same pH and osmolality as urine. To assess the contribution of enzymatic degradation, aliquots of urine were boiled and c ompared with non-boiled urine and diluent. The amount of solubilized HSA in solution was measured using the Bradford assay, while the degradation of a lbumin was detected by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. Results: Approximately 5% of the albumin was degraded over a period of 7 da ys following incubation at 37C, regardless of treatment. SDS-PAGE revealed only minor traces of degradation in urine and controls. The very slight deg radation of denatured HSA appears to be nonenzymatic, as it was observed in both urine and diluent samples. Conclusions: HSA solder appears to be appropriate for use in urologic recon structive surgery since it is not appreciably degraded in the presence of u rine.