Clinitest Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Clinitest and links to relevant pages within the course.
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| When the glucose result on a urine specimen from an infant is negative on the reagent strip, it can be assumed that the specimen is negative for other reducing substances such as galactose. | View Page |
| A copper reduction method (e.g. Clinitest® or Benedict's) is performed on pediatric specimens in order to check for the presence of: | View Page |
| The Clinitest® Method The Clinitest® method can detect reducing substances in the urine up to 2 g/dL. When the amount of sugar is over 2 g/dL (often expressed as 2%), a “pass through” phenomenon occurs. Pass through appears as rapid color changes through green, tan, and orange, and then a reversion in color back to the brownish color. This reversion in color indicates levels of reducing substances greater than 2 g/dL. Even a fleeting orange color should be recorded as “greater than or equal to 2 g/dL.” It is vital that you watch the boiling and color changes throughout the entire reaction so that a "pass through" is not missed. | View Page |
| Testing for Reducing Substances Other Than Glucose Testing pediatric urine specimens for reducing substances other than glucose is a policy that should be implemented in the urinalysis laboratory. The maximum age for this testing is defined by each laboratory and is usually based on consultation with the pediatric clinical staff. The policy that is implemented in most laboratories is to test urine specimens for other reducing substances if the glucose test on the reagent strip is negative and the urine specimen is from a child below the age of one. Verify the policy for your own laboratory because the cutoff age for testing may be different. | View Page |
| The Clinitest® reaction is based on the principle that: | View Page |
| The 2-Drop Clinitest® Procedure Add 10 drops of water to the test tube and mix gently. | View Page |
| The 2-drop Clinitest® Procedure Add the Clinitest® reagent tablet to the test tube. Do not shake while boiling or for 15 seconds after boiling. Do not touch the bottom of the tube while the reaction is taking place; it gets very hot. Do not handle the tablets with your bare hands. It can contaminate the tablet and also any moisture on your hands can start a reaction which may result in a burn. | View Page |
| The 2-drop Clinitest® Procedure After the 15-second waiting period, shake the test tube gently to mix. Immediately compare the color of the liquid to the color chart for the 2-drop method. | View Page |
| The 2-Drop Clinitest® Procedure Record the test result that is associated with the color block that most closely matches the color of the test in the tube. Remember that the final color may not be the test result if the "pass through" phenomenon occurred. Test results should be recorded according to your laboratory's procedure. Laboratories may choose to record results as 1%, 2%, 3%, etc; 1+, 2+, 3+, etc; or 100mg/dL, 200mg/dL, 300mg/dL, etc. The result of the test in the top image is negative, and the result of the test in the bottom image, reported as a percentage, is 2%. (Note: Colors in the photograph may vary slightly from actual test colors.) | View Page |
| Alternate Tests for Sugars There are two basic types of tests that are used to screen or monitor glycosuria -- copper reduction tests and enzyme tests. Most enzyme tests use the enzyme glucose oxidase impregnated on a dipstick along with a chromagen, and are specific for detecting only glucose. The copper reduction tests, however, detect any reducing substance. Clinitest® uses the classic Benedict’s copper reduction reaction. Any reducing substances present in the urine will react with the copper sulfate reagent, and the blue cupric sulfate is subsequently reduced to cuprous oxide. The resultant color change from blue through green to orange is proportional to the amount of reducing substance in the urine sample. | View Page |
| A negative sugar result on a reagent stick and a positive Clinitest® result on the same specimen indicates: | View Page |
| The 2-Drop Clinitest® Procedure Place 2 drops of urine in a test tube. | View Page |
| Use the following urinalysis report to answer:The patient was a female and the examination was completed within two hours of collection. Color - light yellow Appearance - slightly turbid Sp. Gravity - 1.009 pH - 8 Glucose (Multistix) - 0 Glucose (Clinitest) - 0 Protein - 1+ Blood - 0 WBC - 5/HPF RBC - 1/HPF Epithelial - 0/HPF Casts - 2 hyaline/LPF Crystals - amorphous urates Bacteria - 2+True or false? The results are abnormal but all results correlate. | View Page |
| Specimen #5 - Female Child The results of the Clinitest are abnormal, but can be reported. Because this specimen was from a child, the Clinitest was performed routinely even though not indicated by the results of the Multistix. Due to the fact that the Multistix is specific for glucose and was negative, therefore a nonglucose reducing substance is present. Further confirmatory testing such as thin-layered chromatography is needed for identification of the non-glucose reducing sugar. | View Page |