Protein Toxicity

Protein toxicity is illness caused by the buildup of nitrogen-containing waste products of protein metabolism, chiefly urea, uric acid, ammonia, and creatinine, in the body. It can result from urea cycle disorders, other genetic conditions, insufficient kidney function as in chronic kidney disease or acute kidney injury, or simply eating far more protein than the body can process. Early symptoms include unexplained vomiting and loss of appetite, sometimes with an ammonia-like odor on the breath, and if untreated the condition can progress to seizures, encephalopathy, worsening kidney damage, and death. A specific historical form, sometimes called protein poisoning or rabbit starvation, occurs in people who eat lean meat almost exclusively without enough fat or carbohydrate, so that excess dietary protein rather than calorie shortage overwhelms the body's capacity to clear nitrogen waste; treatment includes a low-protein diet and, in kidney failure, dialysis or transplantation.