Urine immunoelectrophoresis is a test that tells whether or not you have immunoglobulins in the urine.

Immunoglobulins are proteins that make antibodies. The proteins can be abnormal.

Collect a "clean-catch" (midstream) urine sample. To obtain a clean-catch sample, men or boys should wipe clean the head of the penis. Women or girls need to wash the area between the labia (lips of the vagina) with soapy water and rinse well.

As you start to urinate, allow a small amount to fall into the toilet bowl. This clears the urethra -- tube that carries urine from the bladder and opens to the outside. Then, in a clean container, catch about 1 to 2 ounces of urine, and remove the container from the urine stream. Give the container to the health care provider or assistant.

Infant:

Thoroughly wash the area around the opening of the urethra. Open a urine collection bag (a plastic bag with an adhesive paper on one end), and place it on your infant. For males, the entire penis can be placed in the bag and the adhesive attached to the skin. For females, the bag is placed over the labia. Place a diaper over the infant (bag and all).

Check your baby frequently, and remove the bag after the infant has urinated into it. For active infants, this procedure may take a couple of attempts -- lively infants can displace the bag, causing an inability to obtain the specimen. The urine is drained into a container for transport back to the health care provider.

The laboratory specialist uses electrical charges to seperate and identify various immunoglobulins in the urine.

Collection of the first morning urine, which is the most concentrated, may be recommended.

If the collection is being taken from an infant, a couple of extra collection bags may be necessary.

The test involves only normal urination, and there is no discomfort.

This test is used to roughly measure the amounts of various immunoglobulins in urine. Most often, it is used as a screening test, particularly in people who have protein in the urine, when urine protein electrophoresis indicates a significant amount of globulins.

Normally there is no, or only a small amount, of protein in the urine. When there is protein in the urine, it normally consists primarily of urine albumin.

Immunoglobulin (antibodies) in the urine can result from kidney disorders such as IgA nephropathy or IgM nephropathy. It can also occur in other disorders such as multiple myeloma (a form of cancer). (See also immunoelectrophoresis - serum.)

In some diseases that cause abnormal cell growth (for example, multiple myeloma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia), a single clone of lymphocytes produces one type of immunoglobulin -- a monoclonal immunoglobulin. This is identifiable by immunoelectrophoresis. Some people have monoclonal immunoglobulins, but they do not have such diseases.

Macroglobulinemia of Waldenstrom is an additional condition under which the test may be performed.

McPherson RA and Pincus MR. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 21st ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2007:843-5.

Hoffman R, Benz Jr. EJ, Shattil SJ, et al., eds. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Churchill Livingston; 2005:727-33.