Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Cell-Free DNA Integrity Analysis in Urine Samples
Published on: January 5, 2017
A Positive Urine Alcohol with Negative Urine Ethyl-Glucuronide
1Departmental of Pathology, Kaiser Permanente, Portland, Oregon.
Abstract:
Urine ethanol is a common finding in urine drug-screening results. An unexpected finding of alcohol in urine can have serious implications for patients who have committed to pain-management contracts or are being counseled for substance abuse. Although laboratory screening for urine ethanol is highly specific and sensitive, the source of the ethanol can sometimes be unclear. This case report describes a 44-year-old Caucasian man with positive urine ethanol results who reported having abstained from alcohol. A test for urine ethyl-glucuronide and ethyl sulfate was used to validate the information in the patient history stating that the patient had not consumed alcohol for 1 year. Evaluation of the urinalysis results from the patient revealed fermentation in the context of glucosuria as the source of the urine ethanol.
Related Concept Videos
Filtration and Urine Formation
Urine Studies II: Urine Culture and Sensitivity Test
Physiology of Urine Formation
Glomerular Filtration
The first stage in urine formation is glomerular filtration. Each kidney contains approximately 1 million nephrons, the functional units of filtration, with a...
Formation of Concentrated Urine
Urine Studies I: Urinalysis
Formation of Dilute Urine
Filtrate Osmolarity in the PCT
Initially, as the filtrate passes through the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT), its...

