About Urine Testing

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Background to Uritest Urinalysis

Urinalysis is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the chemical analysis of urine for diagnostic purposes.

Urinalysis has been around for many hundreds of years and historically began with the visual examination of urine for its colour, smell and even taste! Imagine being a physician in the 1800's and having to taste a specimen of urine in front of the patient? All Doctors must be so pleased we have moved on since then!

Joking aside the branch of medicine referred to as Urinalysis is extremely complex and is constantly being developed with many hundreds of thousands of pounds being spent annually to develop the urinalysis test or URS strip that we know today. It has been developed significantly over recent year and now boasts multi parameter sticks. The urine reagent strip that we use today comes in a variety of combinations of parameter and does so to service the needs of various disciplines within the health service. They range from single parameter to eleven and even twelve parameter formats. The 10 series or URT10V is the most popular strip that will test for the most common of reagents. URS (Urinalysis Reagent Strips) are a tool that can quickly indicate a whole variety of conditions and are often used to exclude certain conditions or indicate the possibility of others. What other 2 minute diagnostic test, costing only a few pence per time would indicate conditions from dehydration to diabetes, kidney failure to hypertension, UTI to hepatic disease? Urinalysis strips represent excellent value for money and an invaluable, reliable diagnostic tool, found in GP's surgeries, clinics, hospitals and nursing homes among many other medical establishments.

The advantage of Uritests compared to other similar products are as follows:

1. Equal (if not better) quality strips that are CE certified against IVD directives
2. Pack size of 100 strips per vial, individually boxed and shrink wrapped inner
3. Low unit cost
4. 10V strips are compatible with the Bayer Clinitek reader which is the most popular with the healthcare professional
5. H11 Ma are the only strips to combine ten parameters plus Microalbumin offering the best value for money on the market
6. Quality assurance practices on every batch and production run
7. Two Years shelf life
8. Long expiry dates, most between 12 - 18 months
9. No reagent bleed between pads
10. On higher parameter tests all areas read at 60 seconds

Use of Uritest Tests

The Uritest test is simple to use and is identical in use to all other comparable tests. There are points to note for the specimen collection and test itself both in storage and in use.

Specimen Collection

• The specimen should be fresh and used within the hour unless refrigerated, where it can be kept for up to four hours but must be at room temperature prior to testing
• Urine should be in a clean container that is free from bleach or other agents
• Urine should not be centrifuged before testing but should be "stirred" if left for any time
• Specimens should be disposed of appropriately

Test Procedure

• Immerse the reagent strip in the specimen and remove momentarily
• Run the edge of the strip against the specimen container to wipe off excess urine
• Time from dipping and compare the colour changes with the chart at the stated intervals
• Hold the strip horizontally to compare colour changes
• Do not read after two minutes have elapsed - colour changes after this time have no clinical significance
• It is suggested that the test is repeated in the event of a positive result

Storage

• Strips must be stored in the original bottle and within the expiry dates
• Each strip is single use only
• Do not remove desiccant from the bottle
• Open bottle and secure the lid quickly, extracting a strip as it is required
• Store in dry place between 2 and 30 degrees Celsius
• Do not touch the reagent area of the strips
• Dispose of appropriately as waste

Parameters and Indicators

Whilst we can't all be clinicians, it would be useful to look at the parameters and what a positive result would indicate. There are many possible causes for each reagent positive being present and so the list will be indicative and not exhaustive.

Protein

Not normally present in urine in high concentrations and normal urine has a low level of albumin. High concentrations can indicate a range of conditions including hypertension, pre-eclampsia, infection and diabetes

Blood

Should not be present and can indicate a variety of possible causes including injury, renal failure or infection. False positives caused by menstrual blood or bleach in commodes / containers.

Ketones

Produced by breakdown of fatty acids indicating uncontrolled diabetes or starvation/anorexia.

Nitrites

Caused by bacteria breaking down nitrates into nitrites. Indicative of infection (UTI).

Glucose

Should not be present in urine in detectable amounts. If present indicates diabetes mellitus or renal problem. Test is specific for glucose only and no other sugars.

Urobilinogen + Bilirubin

Urine normally contains no bilirubin and very little urobilinogen. Conjugated bilirubin only appears in urine in the presence of liver disease or bile duct obstructions.

Leukocytes

Leukocyte esterase: released from white blood cells secondary to bacterial invasion which causes the release of esterase.

Specific Gravity

Specific gravity: the density of the urine. This is an indication of the relative proportions of dissolved solid components to the total volume of the specimen and reflects the relative degree of concentration or dilution of the specimen. A normal specific gravity is between 1.003-1.025. This is a direct reflection of the concentration ability of the kidneys and fluid status.

Microalbumin

Presence of microalbumin indicates the presence of the small protein. This is possibly due to diabetes and/or kidney damage. This would require further investigations.

PH

PH: a demonstration of how the kidneys regulate excretion of non-volatile acids produced by normal metabolic processes. The kidneys maintain a normal acid-base balance by reabsorbing a variable amount of sodium ions by the tubules and tubular secretion of hydrogen and ammonium ion exchange. The acidity of urine is primarily due to acid phosphates with a minor contribution from organic acids, such as lactic acid, pyruvic acid and citric acid. These are excreted in urine as potassium, sodium, calcium, and ammonium salts. A normal pH is 7. A pH < 7 indicates an acid urine and > 7 indicates an alkaline urine. Normal kidneys can produce widely varying pH levels. An acid urine with a pH < 6 can be seen in patients on a high protein diet, in acidosis, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, and renal tubular acidosis. An alkaline urine may be found either with urinary tract infections or possible bacterial contamination of an old specimen with urea-splitting organisms.

To buy your Uritest Urinalysis Strips online [CLICK HERE]

Link to Urinalysis Reagent Strips Users Guide [CLICK HERE]