At a glance
| Analyte | Urea / blood urea nitrogen |
|---|---|
| Also called | BUN, Blood urea nitrogen, Serum urea |
| Method | Enzymatic urease-GLDH, kinetic UV |
| Sample type | Serum, Plasma, Urine |
| Panel | Renal |
| Discipline | Clinical chemistry |
| Brand | Mindray |
What Urea (BUN) measures
Urea is the waste product of protein breakdown, made in the liver and cleared by the kidneys, and it was the original measure of renal function. It is a less specific one than creatinine, and that is exactly why both are reported. Urea rises when the kidneys fail, but also when a patient is dehydrated, when protein intake is high, and when blood is being digested in the gastrointestinal tract after a bleed. Creatinine is comparatively unaffected by those things. When both rise together the picture points at the kidney, and when urea rises out of proportion the laboratory has flagged something the creatinine alone would have missed entirely.
How Philippine laboratories run it
Reported with creatinine on essentially every Philippine renal panel and in the routine chemistry ordered on admission, so the two reagents are planned in step. Demand is heavier than the raw panel count suggests in laboratories serving dialysis centres or hospitals with a significant nephrology workload, because those patients are tested repeatedly rather than once. Note that Philippine reports use both conventions, urea and blood urea nitrogen, and the two are numerically different expressions of the same measurement, so the reporting units matter when results are compared between laboratories.
Analyzers it runs on
* BA-88A: Semi-automated: assay parameters are entered manually at setup.
Calibrator, controls and companion tests
Delivered with its calibrator, both control levels and the rest of the renal panel, on the same schedule as Urea (BUN).
Storage and handling
Refrigerated and kept closed when off the analyzer.
Buying Urea (BUN) in the Philippines
Urea (BUN) is supplied for the BS-600M, BS-430, BS-360E, BS-240Pro, BS-230 and BA-88A. We deliver it with Multi-Sera Calibrator and Chemistry Control Level 1, because a run held up waiting on a separate order costs the same shift a stock-out does. Delivery is scheduled against your monthly Urea (BUN) count, so the bench is not rationing tests in the last week of the month. How we plan clinical chemistry supply.
Questions about Urea (BUN)
Is BUN the same as urea?
They are the same measurement expressed two ways. Blood urea nitrogen reports only the nitrogen component of the urea molecule, while serum urea reports the whole molecule, so the two figures differ by a fixed conversion factor. Philippine laboratories use both conventions, which is worth knowing when a patient brings results from another laboratory for comparison.
Why order urea when creatinine is the better kidney marker?
Because the difference between them carries information. Creatinine is a cleaner measure of filtration, but urea also responds to hydration, protein intake and gastrointestinal bleeding. When urea rises and creatinine does not, that gap points at something other than the kidney, and a panel reporting creatinine alone would show nothing at all.
Order Urea (BUN)
Tell us your monthly Urea (BUN) volume and we will quote a supply schedule for BS-600M. We reply within one business day.
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