Description
Muscle metabolism leads to a chemical waste product called creatinine which normally gets filtered out of the body through urination. Increased creatinine levels in the blood may suggest kidney disease or other conditions that affect kidney function.Daily creatinine production is fairly constant except when there is massive injury to muscle. The kidneys excrete creatinine very efficiently and blood levels and daily urinary excretion of creatinine fluctuates very little in healthy normal people.During pregnancy creatinine level may be lower.Both increased and decreased level of creatinine level state some kind of malfunctioning of kidney and renal diseases. In advanced liver disease, low creatinine may result from decreased hepatic production of creatinine and inadequate dietary protein as well as reduced muscle mass.Creatinine level is related to the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in the kidneys because, after creatinine is filtered by the kidney, very little of it is reabsorbed.
Creatinine is proportional to body mass and is largely unaffected by diet. Occasionally, urine creatinine levels are used with blood creatinine levels to estimate the GFR. The creatinine test is a component of the basic metabolic panel (BMP) and the comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP).High creatinine levels indicate worsening GFR and kidney health. Other causes may include excessive meat consumption, dehydration, intrinsic kidney disease, intensive exercise and creatine or protein dietary supplementation. Low creatinine level result from decreased hepatic production of creatinine and inadequate dietary protein as well as reduced muscle mass.
