Urinalysis (January 1994)

• Urinalysis is an important part of our daily testing. The specimens we receive must be of high quality to guarantee accurate results.

• Criteria for specimen rejection:

-Visible signs of contamination

-Incorrect or absent label

-Transportation delay; Specimens must be in the laboratory or refrigerated within 2 hours of collection. A refrigerated specimen can give accurate results up to 48 hours.

-Insufficient volume; While specimens will not be rejected, our protocol for standardization of sediment results requires 5 ml. Volumes less than 5 ml will be reported in the "comments" box.

• Criteria for evaluating turbidity is based on the amount of distortion of newspaper print when viewed through the sample in a clear tube.

Clear: No distortion

Hazy: Particulate matter present

Cloudy: Distortion

Opaque: Unable to see through it

• Confirmatory tests:

-SSA if > trace protein

-Ictotest if unreadable bilirubin or negative bilirubin in the presence of crystals.

-Acetest for ketones if requested.

• Microscopic sediment examination includes semi-quantitation of cells, casts, crystals, bacteria, sperm, and fat.

-Cellular nuclear & cytoplasmic characteristics, size, shape, and inclusions are used to distinguish cell types.

Sediments containing unusual cells or crystals will be examined by a pathologist.

Reference: Schweitzer, Susan; "Urinalysis" Davidson & Henry

V-BTA Test (February 2000)

1) We have received the V-BTA Test for transitional cell carcinoma, which is a rapid urine test for the detection of bladder tumor analytes in canine urine.

Price:

Sample requirements: Urine collected without preservatives within 48 hours.

Discussion: The bladder tumor analytes detected by the V-BTA test have been isolated and characterized from the urine of some human bladder cancer patients. They contain high molecular weight glycoproteins, which appear to consist of complexes of basement membrane proteins and immunoglobulin. Bladder tumors have been shown to secrete proteolytic enzymes that degrade the basement membrane into fragments of its basic components e.g., Type IV collagen, fibronectin, laminin and proteoglycans. The loss of basil lamina proteins in the case of bladder cancer leads to the formation of detectable protein complexes in urine, which reflect the tumor’s invasive process. These components are discharged into the urine where they combine to form basement membrane complexes. Basement membrane complexes have been

detected and characterized in urine as a means to detect tumors in the bladder.

Abstract: This test is a qualitative, rapid, latex agglutination, dipstick test run on voided urine, which measures a glycoprotein antigen protein complex associated with bladder cancer in human patients. A 1-year prospective clinical trial was designed to assess the efficacy,

sensitivity and specificity of the V- BTA test to diagnose transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) in dogs. The data indicated that the test had 90% sensitivity and 78% specificity in the detection of the bladder tumor-associated antigen in canine TCC.

References:

V-BTA Test Procedure, Bion Diagnostic Sciences, Inc., 1998

Effect on internal hemorrhage on fibrin(ogen) degradation products in canine blood, AJVR 47:1620-1621, 1986

Detection of Canine Transitional Cell Carcinoma Using A Bladder Tumor Antigen Urine Dipstick Test, Vet Clin Path, 28:33-38, 1999