Recycled red-cell pigment is processed by the liver
Biomarker library
Urinalysis
Urine bilirubin
Bilirubin isn't normally found in urine. When it appears, processed bilirubin from the liver is backing up into the blood and spilling over through the kidneys.
Measured in your health assessment, with a doctor to explain your result. Book yours
Why it matters
It turns urine dark, like strong tea or cola, and can be an early sign of a liver or bile-duct problem, sometimes before the skin turns yellow.
What a result can mean
Lower than the range
Negative is the normal result. Unlike blood bilirubin, Gilbert's syndrome doesn't put bilirubin in the urine.
Higher than the range
Bilirubin in urine points to inflammation of the liver, such as hepatitis, or to a blockage of the bile ducts, for example by gallstones.
What can help
A positive result is followed up with liver blood tests and sometimes an ultrasound scan to find the cause.
Read it with
NoteGeneral educational illustration. Colours, sizes and movement are simplified. This is not a scan or a simulation of your body. General information, not personal medical advice: a doctor reads your own results with your history.
Know your urine bilirubin.
Measured in your health assessment and explained by the doctor who reviews your results.