Type of test: In-House
Offered by: Family Naturopathic Clinic
The urine Indican test is also called an Obermeyer test, which is an indicator of intestinal toxemia and overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria.
Indole is produced by bacterial action on tryptophan in the small intestine. Most is eliminated in the feces; the remainder is absorbed and detoxified in the liver and excreted as indican (indoxyl sulfate) in the urine. The amount of indican normally excreted in the urine is small.
Large amounts of indican are produced as a results of high protein diets and in various disorders such as Hartnup disease, intestinal obstruction, gastric cancer, hypochlorhydria (low acid in stomach), biliary obstruction, and malabsorptive conditions such as sprue and blind-loop syndrome.