What does Urine Contain? 20 Researchers Find Out!

Not long after successfully solving the mystery of why urine smells pungently after eating asparagus, chromatography has proved yet again instrumental in unearthing more information about our bodily fluids. This time, a team of 20 researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada have completed the largest analysis of urine in history to identify more than 3,000 compounds.

The team have spent over seven years collating the data and have successfully put together all of the information into a freely-available database. The system, known as the Urine Metabolome database, is accessible by all, free of charge, and is being constantly updated as new compounds are discovered.

Changing the Way we Analyse our Pee

 Traditionally, a standard drug test only tests our urine for six or seven known compounds. Medical textbooks on the subject, however, generally list anywhere between 50 and 100 chemical compounds as potentially comprising our pee. However, this latest study, which combines liquid and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, has revealed well over 3,000 compounds, completely revolutionising the way we analyse our urine.

David Wishart, the senior scientist on the team, explained: “Urine is an incredibly complex biofluid. We had no idea there could be so many different compounds going into our toilets.”

To date, the database contains approximately 3,100 detailed entries on specific small molecule metabolites and just under 4,000 concentration values for the same. Each entry is comprised of over 110 data fields, many of which are linked to other databases. The launch of the system will allow users all over the world to remotely access this information, free of charge, and to access accompanying documentation which can explain more about each metabolite.

Why It’s Important

While determining the reasons that asparagus fragrances our bodily fluids may seem a little unimportant, there are many crucial reasons why we should know the exact compositional makeup of pee. Firstly, analysing our urine can help us to know more about how our bodies are processing the food and drink that we consume, and particularly how this consumption affects our capabilities of processing and harvesting.

Then, once we have grasped a better understanding of that, we may be able to apply the information to detect the presence of unwanted illnesses in the body, simply via the easy process of a urine sample. Such testing would be far preferable to the sometimes invasive blood tests (or other kinds, too) and could be helpful in detecting forms of cancer, pneumonia, celiac disease and many others.

One other advantage could be to monitor how particular drugs affect our bodies. One specific application could be to determine the state of our kidneys and how well they are functioning, especially in relation to pharmaceutical treatment. This article, HPLC suggests urine collections for renal analysis, goes into more detail about how such an approach could help diabetes’ sufferers and other renal patients, as well as the specifics of the technique involved in such a hypothetical situation.