Proteinuria :
Dipstick methods are reliable and easy to perform. Dipstick screening should be done on whole urine but semi- quantitative tests should be done on the supernatant of centrifuged urine since the cells suspended in normal urine can produce a falsely high estimation of protein . These reagent strips are impregnated with a dye. Proteins bind with the dye and color change occurs. These dipsticks are most sensitive to albumin and detect globulins and Bence Jones proteins poorly.

False positive may occur if there is delay in reading the strip.

Chemical analysis with 3% sulphosalicylic acid is a very sensitive precipitation test. It can detect albumin and even globulins & Bence Jones proteins at very low concentrations.
Trace proteinuria = 10mg/dl
1+ proteinuria = 30mg/dl
2+ proteinuria =100mg/dl
3+ proteinuria =300mg/dl
4+ proteinuria = 1gm/ dl

Glycosuria :
Glycosuria is generally suggestive of diabetes mellitus. Dipsticks utilizing glucose oxidase reaction are specific for glucose and do not detect other reducing sugars such as galactose and fructose. Clinitest, a modified Benedict's copper reduction test is used to detect reducing substances in newborn and infant urines. False negative glycosuria may be seen with Vitamin C , tetracyclines or homogentistic acid.

Hematuria :
Hematuria is presence of occult blood in urine due to glomerular damage, tumors, kidney trauma, urinary stones, acute tubular necrosis, UTI and nephrotoxins. Dipsticks to detect occult blood are sensitive to any heme group and may suggest presence of either intact RBCS, hemoglobin or myoglobin. An urine examination positive by hemostix should be examined microscopically to confirm the presence of RBCs. If no RBCS are seen, hemoglobinuria can be differentiated from myoglobin by immunodiffusion techniques.

Ketones :
Ketones in urine may be seen in diabetic ketoacidosis or starvation. They are detected by dipsticks or tablets containing sodium nitroprusside.

Nitrites :
More than 90% of common urinary pathogens (Gram negative rods) are nitrite-producing bacteria. In the presence of infection urinary nitrate is converted to nitrite, which can be detected in urine using a test strip.

Leukocyte esterase test :
A positive test is seen in presence of WBCs in urine and suggestive of pyuria.