Creatinine is the metabolic waste of muscle in our body which is mainly be excreted through glomeruli, and each 20mg muscle can produce one milligram creatinine each day. Creatinine can be produced both internally and externally. On one hand, the meat we ingest is the main source of external creatinine, while on the other, the metabolism of muscle is of the internal one. The level of creatinine will be constant if the meat intake and metabolism of muscle are steady.
● What can we expect from the level of creatinine?
Clinically, creatinine is a key factor when doing a test to know the function of kidneys. How does creatinine form and get out of the body? We have learned from the above that the internal creatinine comes from muscle. It is formed gradually during the irreversible non-enzyme dehydration, and then it is released into blood before excreted via urine. Therefore, creatinine level is close related to the amount of muscle in the body instead to the diet.
In addition, all the creatinine can be excreted out of the body no matter what the quantity of urine is, this is due to the fact that creatinine is such a micro molecule that it can easily get through the glomeruli. If the renal function is damaged, the creatinine can not pass the glomeruli freely, which will cause the accumulation of it in the body and be harmful to human body. The more the creatinine gathered, the severe the disease is. That is why we say that the creatinine level is an important factor to judge what degree the disease is in.
● What is the normal level of creatinine?
In the United States, creatinine is typically reported in mg/dL, whereas, in Canada and a few European countries, μmol/litre may be used. 1 mg/dL of creatinine is 88.4μmol/L.
The typical human reference ranges for creatinine are 0.5 to 1.0 mg/dL (about 45-90 μmol/L) for women and 0.7 to 1.2 mg/dL (60-110 μmol/L) for men. While a baseline creatinine of 2.0 mg/dL (150μmol/L) may indicate normal kidney function in a male body builder, a creatinine of 1.2 mg/dL (110μmol/L) can indicate significant renal disease in an elderly female. For male reference range are 60-120 μmol/L and for female it is 50-110 μmol/L (Ref: Australian Medicine Handbook)
