Urinalysis - The Carter Center

- Pancreatic insufficiency.
- Intestinal Infection.
- Ulceration of intestinal mucosa.
To differentiate the pathological conditions from non-pathological, first
restrict the patient from protein intake and then do the test.
Test for Indican
Obemyares Test
Principle
HCL liberates indoxyle from indican and ferric chloride (FeCl 3 ) oxidizes
the indoxyle to indigo blue.
Procedure
1. Add 5 ml well mixed fresh urine and 5 ml obemyares reagent into
a test tube.
2. Add 4 drops of chloroform and mix several times by inverting until
all color dissolves out.
3. Add saturated ferric chloride drop by drop, mixing well after each
addition and record the number of drops you add to decolorize.
When indican is present, the chloroform layer shows a deep violent to
blue color. Normally when two drops are added, the color comes to light
sky blue, if it needs more. It shows the presence of increased amount of
indican.
Source of Errors
- Indican may be formed because of slow oxidation.
- Presence of iodide may case violent color removed by adding
crystals of sodium thiosulfate.
- Bile pigments – removed by shaking BaCl 2 and filtering.
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