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Ascorbic acid

All information on ascorbic acid

At a glance

Ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin C, is an important building block for numerous metabolic functions in the human body and plays an important role in improving immune defenses.

Ascorbic acid is detectable in the urine of all people when vitamin C-containing fruits, vegetables, juices, effervescent tablets, etc. have been consumed.

Further information

In the urine test, ascorbic acid is only looked for because it can influence and interfere with the result of other parameters. Examples are the parameters hemoglobin and glucose, i.e. the tests for blood and sugar. Ascorbic acid interacts with the chemical carrier substances on the test strip by preventing their oxidation, which is important for detection. This can lead to false-negative results.

It can be assumed that more than 20 of all urine samples may have an ascorbic acid concentration in the urine, which leads to a disturbance of the test fields. A false-negative test result may detect diseases too late and delay the initiating therapies.

Many manufacturers advertise a de-interference of their test strips against ascorbic acid. Others add a field to the test strips to measure ascorbic acid. As soon as this indicates a threshold, the test should be repeated.

Sources

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  • Roche Diagnostics Deutschland GmbH (2014): Kompendium der Urinanalyse. Urinteststreifen und Mikroskopie, 1-196
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Status of information: 2022