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What is a urine test?
There is not a single urine test. There are several.
In this article, we will describe 3 important urine tests, and give their normal values.
Urinary dipstick
- Colour – Straw
- Turbidity – Clear
- pH = 4.5-8. This is a wide range. But urine is normally acidic (i.e. 5.5-6.5) due to metabolic activity. But a very alkaline urine (pH >9.0) may be associated with a UTI
- Specific Gravity (SG) -1.003-1.030
- Protein – Negative
- Glucose – Negative
- Ketone – Negative
- Bilirubin – Negative
- Urobilinogen = 1.7-30 µmol/L
- Blood – Negative
- Leucocyte (WC) – Negative
- Nitrite – Negative
Urinary ACR (marker of protein in urine)
Categories (levels) of albuminuria
- A1 = <3 mg/mmol. Normal, as it is normal to have a very small amount of albumin (and protein) in the urine
- A2 = 3-30. Mild albuminuria
- A3 = >30. Moderate-to-above albuminuria
- >100 = ‘nephrotic range’. Then there needs to be a good reason not to do a kidney biopsy
- >220 = nephrotic syndrome
Midstream specimen of urine (MSU; urine microscopy, i.e. looking at the urine under the microscope)
- White cells (WC) <5
- Red cells (RC) <25 (male, and non-menstruating female). Note, most humans have some microhaematuria. 10% will be positive for blood on a dipstick. This is usually not a disease, and doesn’t need further investigation
- Casts (hyaline) – 0-1
- Urine crystals – none seen
- Bacteria – none seen
Summary
We have been explained 3 important urine tests, and given their normal values. We hope it has been helpful.
