Seasonal and Regional Influences on Alcohol Consumption: An Analysis of Near-Real-Time Urine Drug Test Results in Those Seeking Health Care.

Aims: To examine the probability of detecting alcohol via urine drug testing (UDT) as influenced by age, gender, seasonality, geography, COVID-19, and time in those seeking health care.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of UDT results from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2020, was conducted using adult patient specimens submitted for testing by health care professionals as part of routine care. The UDT analysis used LC-MS/MS to detect two alcohol metabolites, ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate.

Evaluation of a novel ELISA for serotonin: urinary serotonin as a potential biomarker for depression.

Depression is a common disorder with physical and psychological manifestations often associated with low serotonin. Since noninvasive diagnostic tools for depression are sparse, we evaluated the clinical utility of a novel ELISA for the measurement of serotonin in urine from depressed subjects and from subjects under antidepressant therapy. We developed a competitive ELISA for direct measurement of serotonin in derivatized urine samples.

Neurotransmitters excreted in the urine as biomarkers of nervous system activity: validity and clinical applicability.

Strategies for managing the nervous system are numerous while methods of evaluating the nervous system are limited. Given the physiological importance of neurotransmitters as signaling molecules in the nervous system, the measurement of neurotransmitters has significant potential as a clinical tool. Of all the biological fluids that can be utilized, urinary neurotransmitter testing, due to its stability, sensitivity, and non-invasiveness, is the desired method to analyze nervous system function.