Urine test strip

A urine test strip is a semi-quantitative rapid test for analysis of urine. It can be used to demonstrate various ingredients in the urine and thus draw conclusions about various diseases. Urine test strips are available in various versions with one to eleven study parameters. Common parameters are blood / red blood cells / hemoglobin, glucose, ketone bodies, ascorbic acid, protein, leukocytes, nitrite, specific gravity, pH, bilirubin and urobilinogen. The corresponding ingredients can be estimated from a color comparison scale in their concentration. Urine test strips only require a small amount of urine and are a quick and inexpensive method of investigation, but serve only as a rough guideline.

The presence of erythrocytes, hemoglobin or blood indicates a hematuria, the detection limit is 1.5 mg / L. For glucose, the lower detection limit is 100 mg / dl, an increase is an indication of diabetes mellitus or a de Toni- Fanconi syndrome. Ketone bodies are an indication of ketoacidosis, the lower detection limit is 50 mg / l Protein detection indicates only albumin, and this only at a level of more than 300 mg / l, so that microalbuminuria with the standard test strip is not detected. High albumin levels are a sign of damage to the glomeruli. Nitrite is detected from an amount of 0.6 mg / l and is an indication of a urinary tract infection with gram-negative bacteria. An elevated bilirubin level is an indication of jaundice.

Urine test strips are designed for the investigation of human urine. For the investigation of animal urine samples they are only conditionally, only for pH, glucose, ketones, protein, bilirubin and erythrocyte / hemoglobin they deliver reliable results.

The first urine test strips developed in 1850 by the French chemist Jules Maumené ( 1818-1898 ) for the detection of glucose. Only in the 1950s, urine test strips were with several parameters commercially available. In 1964, Boehringer Mannheim ( Roche Diagnostics since 1998 ) the still widespread Combur- Test.