Fat Bodies (routine urine test)

Fat bodies include fat droplets, oval fat bodies (cells containing lipid droplets) and sometimes fatty casts. In all cases, these droplets contain cholesterol esters. This observation is not normal and indicates lipiduria (loss of lipids in the urine).

In the presence of abundant proteinuria (see protein result on the reagent strip), the observation of fat bodies in the urine is a sign of nephrotic syndrome (damage to the glomeruli with loss of protein in the urine). In the absence of abundant proteinuria, the presence of fat bodies could be caused by an acute or chronic inflammation of a portion of the urinary tract (interstitial nephritis).