1) What does turbidity of urine refer to?

2. How would you describe a normal urine sample in terms of color, turbidity, and odor?

Urinalysis Dipstick:

1. A standard Chemstix dipstick tests for what characteristics/solutes in the urine?

2. If someone has a urinary tract infection, which 2 characteristics are likely to be positive on a urinalysis dipstick?

3. If someone tests positive for glucose in the urine, this typically means that their blood glucose is (very high, normal, very low)

4. After a fast of a day or more, which characteristic of the urine is likely to become positive?

5. Urobilinogen and bilirubin are derived from what pigment (found in red blood cells)?

6. What are some conditions or activities that can precede increased proteins in the urine?

7. What is the normal range of urine pH?

8. What does specific gravity of urine measure?

Microscopic Observations:

1. Are red and white blood cells normally present in large amounts in urine?

2. Describe the composition of casts and crystals.

3. Are microorganisms normally present in the urine (NOT from the vaginal or urethral epithelium, but in urine uncontaminated by exposure to vaginal or urethral epithelium)?

 

Question:

1. What does turbidity of urine refer to?

• Turbidity refers to the measure of relative clarity of a liquid such as the urine.

2. How would you describe a normal urine sample in terms of color, turbidity, and odor?

• Color of normal urine: ranges from pale yellow to deep amber due to the urochrome pigment
• Turbidity of normal urine: clear to slightly cloudy
• Odor of normal urine: fresh urine has relatively mild smell

 

Urinalysis Dipstick:

1. A standard Chemstix dipstick tests for what characteristics/solutes in the urine?

• A dipstick tests evaluate the urine's acidity (pH), concentration or the specific gravity, protein, sugar, ketones, bilirubin and urobilinogen, presence of blood, and presence of leukocyte esterase and nitrite.

2. If someone has a urinary tract infection, which 2 characteristics are likely to be positive on a urinalysis dipstick?

• In the presence of UTI, leukocyte and nitrite esterase is positive.

3. If someone tests positive for glucose in the urine, this typically means that their blood glucose is (very high, normal, very low)

• If someone tests positive for glucose in the urine, this typically means that their blood glucose is very high.

4. After a fast of a day or more, which characteristic of the urine is likely to become positive?

• Glucose is likely to be positive after a fast of a day or two.

5. Urobilinogen and bilirubin are derived from what pigment (found in red blood cells)?

• Urobilinogen and bilirubin (an orange-yellow pigment) are end products of hemoglobin from the green pigment called biliverdin in the breakdown of RBCs.

6. What are some conditions or activities that can precede increased proteins in the urine?

• Various conditions can predispose or cause increased proteins in the urine including amyloidosis, prolong intake of non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), kidney problems like acute or chronic kidney disease, pyelonephritis and nephrotic syndrome, diabetes, endocarditis and many more. Presence of protein in the urine is due to the defect in the filtration function of the kidneys.

7. What is the normal range of urine pH?

• Normal urine pH ranges from slightly acidic to slightly basic (pH 4.5 - 8.0).

8. What does specific gravity of urine measure?

• Specific gravity of urine checks for the amount of particles present in the urine and checks for the density of urine when compared to the density of water.

 

Microscopic Observations:

1. Are red and white blood cells normally present in large amounts in urine?

• No, large amounts of RBCs and WBCs should not be present in the urine.

2. Describe the composition of casts and crystals.

• Urinary casts are tiny tube-shaped particles found during urinalysis. It is composed of WBCs, RBCs, proteins and fat.
• Urine crystals are classified into uric acid crystals, calcium oxalate crystals, hippuric acid crystals, magnesium ammonium phosphate or struvite crystals, calcium carbonate crystals and calcium phosphate crystals. These are made up of phosphate, ammonium, magnesium, and calcium.

3. Are microorganisms normally present in the urine (NOT from the vaginal or urethral epithelium, but in urine uncontaminated by exposure to vaginal or urethral epithelium)?

• No, urine is normally sterile. This means that it contains no bacteria unless contaminated.

Step-by-step explanation

Question:

1. What does turbidity of urine refer to?

• Turbidity refers to the measure of relative clarity of a liquid such as the urine. The turbidity of urine is gauged as clear, slightly cloudy, cloudy, opaque or flocculent. In normal situations, fresh urine can be clear or cloudy. However, too much turbidity may be due to the suspended particles present in the urine. Abnormal turbidity may indicate pathology such as UTI.

2. How would you describe a normal urine sample in terms of color, turbidity, and odor?

• Color of normal urine: ranges from pale yellow to deep amber due to the urochrome pigment
• Turbidity of normal urine: clear to slightly cloudy
• Odor of normal urine: fresh urine has relatively mild smell

 

Urinalysis Dipstick:

1. A standard Chemstix dipstick tests for what characteristics/solutes in the urine?

• A dipstick tests evaluate the urine's acidity (pH), concentration or the specific gravity, protein, sugar, ketones, bilirubin and urobilinogen, presence of blood, and presence of leukocyte esterase and nitrite.

2. If someone has a urinary tract infection, which 2 characteristics are likely to be positive on a urinalysis dipstick?

• In the presence of UTI, leukocyte and nitrite esterase is positive, indicating pyuria (presence of WBC in the urine and is indicative of impending infection) and bacteriuria, respectively.

3. If someone tests positive for glucose in the urine, this typically means that their blood glucose is (very high, normal, very low)

• If someone tests positive for glucose in the urine, this typically means that their blood glucose is very high. Normally, glucose in the urine is 0-0.8 mmol/L. High levels of glucose may result from an underlying disease such as diabetes.

4. After a fast of a day or more, which characteristic of the urine is likely to become positive?

• Glucose is likely to be positive after a fast of a day or two. In urine dipstick, when a hexokinase reagent strip is used, glucose concentrations below 2 mg/dl in morning urine from a fasting person (for a day or two) correlate well with urinary tract infection.

5. Urobilinogen and bilirubin are derived from what pigment (found in red blood cells)?

• Urobilinogen and bilirubin (an orange-yellow pigment) are end products of hemoglobin from the green pigment called biliverdin in the breakdown of RBCs.

6. What are some conditions or activities that can precede increased proteins in the urine?

• Various conditions can predispose or cause increased proteins in the urine including amyloidosis, prolong intake of non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), kidney problems like acute or chronic kidney disease, pyelonephritis and nephrotic syndrome, diabetes, endocarditis and many more. Presence of protein in the urine is due to the defect in the filtration function of the kidneys.

7. What is the normal range of urine pH?

• Normal urine pH ranges from slightly acidic to slightly basic (pH 4.5 - 8.0).

8. What does specific gravity of urine measure?

• Specific gravity of urine checks for the amount of particles present in the urine and checks for the density of urine when compared to the density of water. Thus, it signifies the functionality of the kidneys in terms of amount of water in the urine.
• The normal range for urine specific gravity is 1.005 to 1.030, which varies in every laboratory.
• High specific gravity means there are more solid particles present in the urine, meaning, urine is too concentrated. This may result from dehydration. On the other hand, low specific gravity means that urine is too diluted.

 

Microscopic Observations:

1. Are red and white blood cells normally present in large amounts in urine?

• No, large amounts of RBCs and WBCs should not be present in the urine. Normally, there are only 0-5 RBCs and WBCs per high power field in the sample urine. Presence of large amounts of RBCs and WBCs may be caused by urinary tract/bladder cancer or infections.

2. Describe the composition of casts and crystals.

• Urinary casts are tiny tube-shaped particles found during urinalysis. It is composed of WBCs, RBCs, proteins and fat.
• Urine crystals are classified into uric acid crystals, calcium oxalate crystals, hippuric acid crystals, magnesium ammonium phosphate or struvite crystals, calcium carbonate crystals and calcium phosphate crystals. These are made up of phosphate, ammonium, magnesium, and calcium.

3. Are microorganisms normally present in the urine (NOT from the vaginal or urethral epithelium, but in urine uncontaminated by exposure to vaginal or urethral epithelium)?

• No, urine is normally sterile. This means that it contains no bacteria unless contaminated.
• Presence of bacteria in the urine does not directly indicate infection because few number of bacteria are found in healthy individuals and is harmless unless it reaches more than 100 000 colonies per ml of urine, then it is indicative of an impending infection.