Porphyrin tests measure the level of porphyrins in your blood, urine (pee), or stool (poop). Your body uses porphyrins to make heme. Heme is part of hemoglobin , which is a protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body.
It's normal to have a small amount of porphyrins in your blood and other body fluids. But too much porphyrin may mean you have a type of porphyria . Porphyrias are a group of diseases that happen if you lack one of the proteins necessary to change porphyrins into heme. If your body doesn't use porphyrins correctly, they can build up and cause illness.
Porphyrias are very uncommon disorders that are usually inherited . That means these diseases tend to run in families because of a change in a gene that's passed down from parents to children. There are two main groups of porphyrias:
- Acute porphyrias happen suddenly and usually last days or weeks. They mainly affect the nervous system . Sometimes they affect the skin, too.
- Cutaneous porphyrias are long lasting and affect only the skin, causing blisters or pain when you are exposed to sunlight
Each group of porphyrias includes different types of the disease.
Other names: protoporphyrin; protoporphyrin, blood; protoporhyrin, stool; porphyrins, feces; uroporphyrin; porphyrins, urine; Mauzerall-Granick test; acid; ALA; porphobilinogen; PBG; free erythrocyte protoporphyrin; fractionated erythrocyte porphyrins; FEP