Urobilinogen is a byproduct of bilirubin that is normally found in the urine in trace amounts. It’s produced from the breakdown of bilirubin by gut bacteria. The majority of this compound is excreted in feces, and a small amount is reabsorbed and excreted in the urine. However, higher or lower levels of urobilinogen in urine may indicate a liver problem.
Understanding Urobilinogen
Your body makes bilirubin during the normal process of breaking down old red blood cells. Your liver uses the bilirubin to make bile, a fluid that helps you digest food in your intestines. Good bacteria in your intestines break down the bilirubin in your bile and make urobilinogen. Some of the urobilinogen leaves your body in your stool, some of it enters your bloodstream and returns to your liver, where it’s “recycled” into bile. A small amount of urobilinogen leaves your body in urine.
Causes of Abnormal Urobilinogen Levels
High levels of urobilinogen in urine can indicate an infection of some kind in the body. Elevated levels can also indicate cancer, or liver cirrhosis which causes the liver to become weak, causing urobilinogen to accumulate within the body. Hemolytic anemia, or the breakdown of red blood cells can also cause increased levels.
On the other hand, when insufficient bilirubin reaches the gut due to decreased bile flow, urobilinogen production is reduced, resulting in extremely low or absent urinary urobilinogen levels.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
Symptoms of abnormal urobilinogen levels depend on the underlying cause. If you have reduced bile flow, you may experience itchy skin, fatigue, yellow complexion (jaundice), dark urine, lightly colored or foul-smelling stool, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss2.
Diagnosis typically involves a urinalysis or urine test. A special test strip called a urine dipstick is inserted into the urine sample to test for nitrite-positive urine.
Treatment and Prevention
Treatment for abnormal urobilinogen levels depends on its underlying cause. For instance, UTIs are typically treated with antibiotics. It’s important to complete the full course of antibiotics to ensure all bacteria are eliminated and prevent reinfection.
Prevention strategies include drinking plenty of water to flush bacteria out of your urinary system and not holding in urine for too long as this can increase bacterial growth4.
Conclusion
Urobilinogen in urine is typically a sign of an underlying issue with your urinary tract. If you suspect you have this condition, it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional for proper diagnosis and treatment.
2 comments
Dear Sirs,
I ‘ve written you once before and either missed or did not receive a response so I’m going to try once more. I just wanted to make a suggestion I might go a long way in improving your customers satisfaction with your test kits. I purchased one on Amazon and although I am trusting on the quality of your product, I’m a little disappointed in the supporting materials you provided, and as a result unclear on what benefit I’m actually receiving. I want to recommend that you consider designing a better chart, table, or whatever format you deem best, that will convey the information in such a way as to be clearly accurate and specific in what each means, with details at each different level of the range, and its indications. What was included with my kit might have been enough to satisfy someone familiar with each of the individual areas but it fell short for me, and I’m going to assume, many others using your products. It would take a relatively minor investment for you, and go a long way I’m certain in providing your customers the information and understanding they were looking for in turning to you. Something that perhaps folds out and can be posted nearby for easy reference is what I was thinking. These are just some of my suggestions to consider changing or incorporating into this piece if you decide to implement it. It’s not all inclusive by any means just a couple items I think would make it easier to understand the results they are looking for.
1. Use a larger format and increase the font to make it easier for the elderly or those with less than average eye sight.
2. Define the range of each possible outcome or level more accurately defining its range (if possible using a line graph or other method to show the measurement where that level both starts and finishes, and the next begins), what it is used for, and most importantly a lengthier explanation in laymen’s terms of why it’s important, what it may indicate, and what if anything they should do if they received that answer.
for me the information you provided was sufficient to point me in the right direction with something I needed to find a better understanding of, and since that is what your selling saving the customers like me the trouble of having to go research fourteen or however number topics is a little disappointing. Just saying, good luck.
Sincerely,
James Nozell,
616 E 9th Pl,
Kennewick, WA 99336
Dear Sirs,
I ‘ve written you once before and either missed or did not receive a response so I’m going to try once more. I just wanted to make a suggestion I might go a long way in improving your customers satisfaction with your test kits. I purchased one on Amazon and although I am trusting on the quality of your product, I’m a little disappointed in the supporting materials you provided, and as a result unclear on what benefit I’m actually receiving. I want to recommend that you consider designing a better chart, table, or whatever format you deem best, that will convey the information in such a way as to be clearly accurate and specific in what each means, with details at each different level of the range, and its indications. What was included with my kit might have been enough to satisfy someone familiar with each of the individual areas but it fell short for me, and I’m going to assume, many others using your products. It would take a relatively minor investment for you, and go a long way I’m certain in providing your customers the information and understanding they were looking for in turning to you. Something that perhaps folds out and can be posted nearby for easy reference is what I was thinking. These are just some of my suggestions to consider changing or incorporating into this piece if you decide to implement it. It’s not all inclusive by any means just a couple items I think would make it easier to understand the results they are looking for.
1. Use a larger format and increase the font to make it easier for the elderly or those with less than average eye sight.
2. Define the range of each possible outcome or level more accurately defining its range (if possible using a line graph or other method to show the measurement where that level both starts and finishes, and the next begins), what it is used for, and most importantly a lengthier explanation in laymen’s terms of why it’s important, what it may indicate, and what if anything they should do if they received that answer.
for me the information you provided was sufficient to point me in the right direction with something I needed to find a better understanding of, and since that is what your selling saving the customers like me the trouble of having to go research fourteen or however number topics is a little disappointing. Just saying, good luck.
Sincerely,
James Nozell,
616 E 9th Pl,
Kennewick, WA 99336