A large part of the population takes medication on a daily basis. These are absorbed by the body, metabolized and finally excreted. A large number of the drugs are eliminated via the kidney, so that substance changent products of the drugs can be found in the urine. As a result, the medication intake and effect can be checked in the urine via various parameters.
Medications in urine
All information on medicines in urine
At a glance
Medications are also often the cause of changes in the smell or color of urine.
Further information
The following list shows a small selection of the effects of various active ingredients of drugs on the urine:
- Beta-carotene, sulfasalazine: yellowing
- Isoniazid, multivitamin preparations: orange coloration
- Phenolphthalein: pink coloration
- Iron chelators, levodopa, rifampicin, levodopa: red coloration
- Chloroquine, nitrofurantoin: reddish-brown coloration
- Amitriptyline, indomethacin, mitoxantrone, methylene blue, propofol, fluorescein: green coloration
- Mitoxantrone, propofol, triamterene: blue coloration
- Methyldopa, levodopa, metronidazole: black coloration
Sources
- Roche Diagnostics Deutschland GmbH (2014): Kompendium der Urinanalyse. Urinteststreifen und Mikroskopie, 1-196
- Abu-Tair, M. (2010): Urindiagnostik im klinischen Alltag. Medizinische Klinik, 105(5), 351-358
- Aycock, R. D. & Kass, D. A. (2012): Abnormal urine color. South Med J, 105 (1), 43-7
- Külpmann, W.R.: (2003): Detection of drugs and medications in urine by means of rapid tests, Dtsch Arztebl; 100(17): A-1138 / B-956 / C-898 https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/36628/Nachweis-von-Drogen-und-Medikamenten-im-Urin-mittels-Schnelltests
- Hannak D, Külpmann WR, Degel F et al. (2002): Messmethoden der klinisch-toxikologischen Analytik. In: Külpmann WR ed.: Klinisch-toxikologische Analytik. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 21–23
