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Medical urine test strips

Many medical conditions can be investigated and detected by using medical urine test strips, and they are a great help to ascertain your health status.

Our strips are available for home use, and test simultaneously for the presence of glucose, ketones, blood, protein, nitrite, pH, urobilinogen, bilirubin, leucocytes in urine as well as specific gravity.

	on this page Glucose Ketones Blood Protein Nitrite pH Urobilinogen Bilirubin Leucocytes Specific gravity Buying our urine test strips

We believe that the combination of reagents that are tested gives a good general coverage for a range of health indicators. To have a look in detail what is tested with these urine test strips, please click the hyperlinks below

Glucose

This test is based on a sequential enzyme reaction. First, glucose oxidase catalyzes the formation of gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide from the oxidation of glucose. A second enzyme, peroxidase, catalyzes the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with potassium iodide chromogen to oxidize the chromogen to colors ranging from blue through greenish-brown, and brown to dark-brown.

Reactivity of the test decreases as the specific gravity and/or pH of urine increases, and may also vary with temperature. Ascorbic acid (more than 50 mg/dl) and ketone bodies (more than 40 mg/dl) may cause a false negative result for a specimen containing a small amount of glucose (100 mg/dl). However, the combinations of such ketone levels and low glucose levels are metabolically improbable.

The test has a sensitivity of 100-mg/dl glucose. False negative results may be obtained with the presence of levodopa, ascorbic acid, glutathione, and dipyrone. If the test color appears somewhat mottled at higher glucose concentrations, match the darkest color to the color on the reagent pad.

For more information on the glucose level of your urine please click here.

Ketones

This test is based on the reaction of acetoacetic acid in the urine with nitroprusside. The resulting color ranges from tan when no reaction takes place, to purple for a positive reaction. Normal urine specimens ordinarily yield negative results with this reagent.

False positive results may occur with highly pigmented urine specimens or those containing large amounts of levodopa metabolites.

Acetone or beta-hydroxybutyric acid have no significant effect on this test.

For more information on ketones in your urine please click here.

Blood

This test is based on the pseudoperoxidase activity of hemoglobin which catalyzes the reaction of 3,3'5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine and buffered organic peroxide, 2,5-dimethylhexane-2,5-dihydroperoxide. The resulting color ranges from, greenish-yellow through bluish-green to dark blue.

A false positive test result can sometimes occur when bacteria are present in the urine. Ascorbic acid or protein may reduce the reactivity of the blood test. Strong oxidizing substances such as hypochlorites may produce a false positive result. Urine from menstruating females often, but not always, yield positive results.

This test is slightly more sensitive to free hemoglobin and myoglobin than to intact erythrocytes. The test is generally capable of detecting 0.015-mg/dl free hemoglobin or 5 to 10 intact red blood cells per ml of urine. The sensitivity may he reduced in urine with high specific gravity and ascorbic acid content. The appearance of green spots on the reagent test area indicates the presence of intact erythrocytes in the urine.

For more information on blood in your urine please click here.

Protein

This test is based on the color change of the indicator tetrabromophenol blue. A positive reaction is indicated by a color change from yellow through green and then to greenish-blue.

The minimum sensitivity of this test is 10 mg/dl of protein in urine. Highly buffered alkaline urines (pH 9) may give false negative results. The interpretation of results is also difficult in turbid urine specimens.

For more information on protein in your urine please click here.

Nitrite

This test is based on the reaction of p-arsanilic acid and nitrite in urine to form a diazonium compound. The diazonium compound in turn couples with N- (l-naphthyl) ethylenediamine in an acid medium and the resulting color is pink. Any degree of pink color is considered positive, however, pink spots or pink edges should not be interpreted as a positive result. Color development is not proportional to the number of bacteria present.

A mid-stream first morning urine specimen is recommended for this test. The sensitivity of the nitrite test is decreased with high specific gravity or ascorbic acid concentrations of 25 mg/dl or greater. Comparison of the reagent pad against a white background may aid in the detection of low levels of nitrite.

For more information on nitrite in your urine please click here.

pH

This test is based on double indicators (methyl red and bromothymol blue), which give a broad range of colors covering the entire urinary pH range. Colors range from orange through greenish-yellow and green to blue.

This test indicates the pH values within the range of 5 to 9.

Certain drugs, such as those used for hypertension and heart diseases (acetazolamides) may cause an alkaline urine. Excessive urine on the test strip may wash the acid buffer from the neighboring protein reagent onto the pH area and change the pH reading to an acid pH although the urine being tested may originally have been neutral or alkaline. An accurate reading may be influenced by slight variations of pigments in the urine.

For more information on the pH of your urine please click here.

Urobilinogen

The test is based on a diazotisation reaction of 4- Methoxybenzene diazoniurn salt and urinary urobilinogen in a strong acid medium. The color changes from pink to brown-red.

This test can detect urobilinogen in concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/dl: It should be noted that most normal urines may give a slight pink reaction, and a high concentration of formalin may give a false negative result.

For more information on urobilinogen in your urine please click here.

Bilirubin

This test is based on the coupling of bilirubin with 2.4-dichlorobenzene diazonium salt in a strong acid medium. The color changes from light tan to pinkish-purple. No bilirubin is detectable in normal urine by even the most sensitive methods.

Since the bilirubin in samples is sensitive to light, exposure of the urine samples to light for a long period of time may result in a false negative test result. Ascorbic acid concentration of 25-50 mg/dl may also cause a false negative test result. Even trace amounts of bilirubin are abnormal and require further investigation. False positive results may be obtained from the presence of diagnostic or therapeutic dyes in the test urine.

The test has a sensitivity of 0.5 mg/dl bilirubin and bilirubin in urine is an indicator of liver disease before any clinical symptoms are evident.

For more information on bilirubin in your urine please click here.

Leucocytes

This test reveals the presence of granulocyte esterases. The esterases cleave a derivatized pyrazole amino acid ester to liberate derivatized hydroxy pyrazole.

This pyrazole then reacts with a diazonium salt to produce a purple color. The test is capable of detecting trace levels as low as 15WBC/µl.

For more information on leucocytes in your urine please click here.

Specific gravity

This test is based on the pka change of certain pretreated polyelectrolytes in relation to the ionic concentration. In the presence of an indicator, the color changes from deep blue in urine of low ionic concentration.

Elevated specific gravity readings may be obtained in the presence of moderate quantities (100- 700 mg/dl) of protein. Specific gravity is also increased with the glucose concentration in the urine and highly buffered alkaline urines may also cause low reading results.

For more information on the specific gravity of your urine please click here.

Other information

For more information please follow these hyperlinks for more information on the kidneys:

• The kidneys and their functions

• Regulating the volume and concentrating of body fluids by the kidneys

As you can see - the test strips will test the entire spectrum of what can be tested by using urine dipstick test strips.

Instead of just testing for ketones or glucose, you can now test the entire spectrum of your urine, by using our very affordable urine test strips.

Buying from us

R 400.00 for 100 strips

Our home test kits

Information pages