Physical properties
Normal constituents of urine
Abnormal or pathological
constituents of Urine
Physical properties:
• Colour
• Odour
• Aspect
• Specific Gravity
• Sediments or deposits
• Reaction (pH)
• Volume of urine
o Colour:
• Normal : amber yellow
• Abnormal :
• Pale : excess fluid / cold weather
• deeper : hot weather / severe muscular exercise
• Reddish : bilharziasis / urinary-bladder carcinoma
• tea-like : infective hepatitis
• coca cola-like (liquorice) : glomerulonephritis
• colourless but blackens on exposure to light : alkaptonuria
o Odour:
• Normal : aromatic
• Abnormal :
• rotten apple like or acetone in diabetic ketoacidosis.
• Fishy : carcinoma of the urinary bladder
• Offensive : urinary tract infections
o Aspect:
• Normal : clear
• Abnormal :
• Turbid : albuminuria / crystalluria / urinary tract infections.
o Specific Gravity (reflects amount of total solids):
• Normal : 1.015 – 1.025.
• Abnormal :
• Increased : diabetes mellitus – crystalluria
• Decreased : excess fluid intake – diabetes insipidus
• fixed at 1.010 : chronic renal failure
o Sediments or deposits:
• Normal : no visible deposits
• Abnormal :
• In UTI : Pus cells (Pyuria)
• Red blood cells (hematuria)
• In stones : Crystals as urate, oxalate or phosphate
o Reaction(PH):
• Normal : acidic
• Abnormal :
• urinary tract infections : Alkaline
• PH vary according to the type of diet :
• high protein diet : acidic
o Volume :
• Normal : 600 ml to 1600 ml/day
• Abnormal : Polyuria, Oliguria or Anuria.
Polyuria (more than 2000 ml/day):
1- Physiological polyuria :
• high fluid intake
• high protein diet (urea causes osmotic diuresis)
2- Pathological polyuria
• diabetes mellitus (glucose cause osmotic diuresis)
• diabetes insipidus (due to lack of ADH)
• Hypertension (due to increased glomerular filtration)
Oliguria (Less than 500 ml/day):
1- Physiological oliguria:
• low fluid intake
2- Pathological oliguria
• inflammatory kidney diseases(acute nephritis)
• Partial obstruction in urine passages.
• vomiting, diarrhoea
Anuria (less than 125 ml/day):
• bilateral renal stone
• complete obstruction of urinary passages
Normal constituents of urine:
• Urea (end product of protein metabolism)
• Uric acid (end product of catabolism of purines)
• Creatinine & Creatine
• Organic acids : glucuronic, Citric, lactic, oxalic acid
• Chlorides, Sulfates &Phosphates
Abnormal or Pathological Constituents of Urine
• Proteins:
• Glucose and other reducing sugars
• Bile (Bile Pigments and Bile acids)
• Blood and Blood Pigments
• Acetone or ketone bodies
• Indican
1. Proteins:
• Albuminuria or better proteinuria is the name given to the condition
in which a heat coagulable protein is found in the urine, due to its low
molecular weight.
• normal protein in urine less than 30 mg.
• Albumine > globuline : lower molecular weight and higher plasma
concentration so most excreted protein is albumin (albuminuria)
Boiling test or heat coagulation test:
• Result: white coagulum
Other proteins can be found in urine:
Bence-Jones protein Hemoglobin Myoglobin
(light chains of (Hemoglobinuria) (Myoglobinuria)
immunoglobuline)
precipitated at 50-60oC,
dissolved at 100oC and re-
precipitated on cooling. ---- ----
in Urine of multiple Indicate intravascular Indicate muscle damage
myeloma (malignant plasma hemolysis
cells)
2. Glucose and other reducing sugars:
Can be detected by Benedict and Fehling tests; as sugar reduce cupric
ions in alkaline medium into cuprous oxide (red ppt.)
• Result: red or yellow precipitate
Classification :
• Glycosuria : appearance of a
reducing sugar in urine
• Glucosuria : in diabetes mellitus.
3-Bile, Bile Pigments, Bile acids
Bile a) Bile Pigments (as b) Bile acids (bile salts)
bilirubin)
when bile duct is by Modified Gemelin’s By Hay’s sulphur test
obstructed or liver test
cells is diseased
- Bilirubin in urine - Normal urine: Sulphur
yellowish green , occurs in jaundice remain on surface
frothy urine
- Positive: Sulphur gradually
sink due to reduction in
surface tension by bile salts
4. Blood and Blood Pigments:
• haematuria intact RBCS
• Haemoglobinuria Hgb free in solution
• Determined by Benzidine test
• causes of hematuria: urinary bilharziasis
5. ketone bodies :
• Rothera’s test
• For acetoacetic acid and acetone (Not
B-hydroxybutyric acid).
• Principle: Permanganate
Acetoacetic acid and acetone react with color
sodium nitroprusside in alkaline medium
form permanganate colored complex.
• Presence of ketone bodies in urine is associated with ketosis (where
utilization of carbohydrate is impaired eg. Starvation, carbohydrate
poor diet and diabetes mellitus).
6.Indican (indoxylsulphate potassium salt) :
• arises from bacterial decomposition of tryptophan in the
intestine
• measure of the amount of putrefaction in the intestine.
• Determined by Jaffe’s test
Result of protein, glucose & ketone bodies tests
