Test Catalog

Test Id : CORTU

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Cortisol, Free, 24 Hour, Urine

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Overview

Test Catalog

Useful For
Suggests clinical disorders or settings where the test may be helpful

Preferred screening test for Cushing syndrome

 

Diagnosis of pseudo-hyperaldosteronism due to excessive licorice consumption

 

Test may not be useful in the evaluation of adrenal insufficiency.

Method Name
A short description of the method used to perform the test

Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

NY State Available
Indicates the status of NY State approval and if the test is orderable for NY State clients.

Yes

Reporting Name
Lists a shorter or abbreviated version of the Published Name for a test

Cortisol, Free, U

Aliases
Lists additional common names for a test, as an aid in searching

Cortisol Free Urine

Free Urinary Cortisol

Urinary Free Cortisol

Specimen Type
Describes the specimen type validated for testing

Urine

Necessary Information

24-Hour volume (in milliliters) is required.

ORDER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question ID Description Answers
TM93 Collection Duration (h)
VL47 Volume (mL)

Specimen Required
Defines the optimal specimen required to perform the test and the preferred volume to complete testing

Supplies: Urine Tubes, 10-mL (T068)

Submission Container/Tube: Plastic urine tube

Specimen Volume: 5 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Collect urine for 24 hours.

2. Add 10 g of boric acid as preservative at start of collection.

Additional Information: See Urine Preservatives-Collection and Transportation for 24-Hour Urine Specimens for multiple collections.

Special Instructions
Library of PDFs including pertinent information and forms related to the test

Urine Preservative Collection Options

Note: The addition of preservative must occur prior to the start of the collection or application of temperature controls must occur during collection.

Ambient (no additive)

No

Refrigerate (no additive)

OK

Frozen (no additive)

OK

50% Acetic Acid

OK

Boric Acid

Preferred

Diazolidinyl Urea

No

6M Hydrochloric Acid

No

6M Nitric Acid

No

Sodium Carbonate

No

Thymol

No

Toluene

No

Specimen Minimum Volume
Defines the amount of sample necessary to provide a clinically relevant result as determined by the testing laboratory. The minimum volume is sufficient for one attempt at testing.

3 mL

Reject Due To
Identifies specimen types and conditions that may cause the specimen to be rejected

  All specimens will be evaluated at Mayo Clinic Laboratories for test suitability.

Specimen Stability Information
Provides a description of the temperatures required to transport a specimen to the performing laboratory, alternate acceptable temperatures are also included

Specimen Type Temperature Time Special Container
Urine Refrigerated (preferred) 14 days
Frozen 28 days
Ambient 7 days

Useful For
Suggests clinical disorders or settings where the test may be helpful

Preferred screening test for Cushing syndrome

 

Diagnosis of pseudo-hyperaldosteronism due to excessive licorice consumption

 

Test may not be useful in the evaluation of adrenal insufficiency.

Clinical Information
Discusses physiology, pathophysiology, and general clinical aspects, as they relate to a laboratory test

Cortisol is a steroid hormone synthesized from cholesterol by a multienzyme cascade in the adrenal glands. It is the main glucocorticoid in humans and acts as a gene transcription factor influencing a multitude of cellular responses in virtually all tissues. Cortisol plays a critical role in glucose metabolism, maintenance of vascular tone, immune response regulation, and in the body's response to stress. Its production is under hypothalamic-pituitary feedback control.

 

Only a small percentage of circulating cortisol is biologically active (free), with the majority of cortisol inactive (protein bound). As plasma cortisol values increase, free cortisol (ie, unconjugated cortisol or hydrocortisone) increases and is filtered through the glomerulus. Urinary free cortisol (UFC) in the urine correlates well with the concentration of plasma free cortisol. UFC represents excretion of the circulating, biologically active, free cortisol that is responsible for the signs and symptoms of hypercortisolism.

 

Urinary free cortisol is a sensitive test for the various types of adrenocortical dysfunction, particularly hypercortisolism (Cushing syndrome). A measurement of 24-hour UFC excretion, by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), is the preferred screening test for Cushing syndrome. LC-MS/MS methodology eliminates analytical interferences including carbamazepine (Tegretol) and synthetic corticosteroids, which can affect immunoassay-based cortisol results.

Reference Values
Describes reference intervals and additional information for interpretation of test results. May include intervals based on age and sex when appropriate. Intervals are Mayo-derived, unless otherwise designated. If an interpretive report is provided, the reference value field will state this.

0-2 years: Not established

3-8 years: 1.4-20 mcg/24 h

9-12 years: 2.6-37 mcg/24 h

13-17 years: 4.0-56 mcg/24 h

> or =18 years: 3.5-45 mcg/24 h

 

Use the factor below to convert from mcg/24 hr to nmol/24 hr:

 

Conversion factor

Cortisol: mcg/24 h x 2.76=nmol/24 hr (molecular weight=362.5)

 

For International System of Units (SI) conversion for Reference Values, see www.mayocliniclabs.com/order-tests/si-unit-conversion.html.

Interpretation
Provides information to assist in interpretation of the test results

Most patients with Cushing syndrome have increased 24-hour urinary excretion of cortisol. Further studies, including suppression or stimulation tests, measurement of serum corticotropin concentrations, and imaging are usually necessary to confirm the diagnosis and determine the etiology.

 

Values in the normal range may occur in patients with mild Cushing syndrome or with periodic hormonogenesis. In these cases, continuing follow-up and repeat testing are necessary to confirm the diagnosis.

 

Patients with Cushing syndrome due to intake of synthetic glucocorticoids should have suppressed cortisol. In these circumstances a synthetic glucocorticoid screen might be ordered (SGSU / Synthetic Glucocorticoid Screen, Random, Urine).

 

Suppressed cortisol values may also be observed in primary adrenal insufficiency and hypopituitarism. However, many normal individuals may also exhibit a very low 24-hour urinary cortisol excretion with considerable overlap with the values observed in pathological hypocorticalism. Therefore, without other tests, 24-hour urinary cortisol measurements cannot be relied upon for the diagnosis of hypocorticalism.

Cautions
Discusses conditions that may cause diagnostic confusion, including improper specimen collection and handling, inappropriate test selection, and interfering substances

Acute stress (including hospitalization and surgery), alcoholism, depression, and many drugs (eg, exogenous cortisone, anticonvulsants) can obliterate normal diurnal variation, affect response to suppression/stimulation tests, and increase baseline levels.

 

This test has limited usefulness in the evaluation of adrenal insufficiency.

 

This methodology (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) eliminates analytical interferences including carbamazepine (Tegretol) and synthetic corticosteroids.

 

Renal disease (decreased excretion) may cause falsely low 24-hour urinary free cortisol values.

 

Improper collection may alter results. For example, a missed morning collection may result in false-negative tests; an extra morning collection (ie, >24 hours) may give false-positive results.

 

Twenty-four-hour urinary free cortisol values may be elevated to twice the upper limit of the normal range during pregnancy.

 

Patients with exogenous Cushing syndrome caused by ingestion of hydrocortisone will not have suppressed cortisol values.

Supportive Data

In Mayo's reference value study, gender was found to significantly influence cortisol values (P value=0.001). However, while this was statistically significant, gender explained only 6% of the variability in cortisol normal ranges and, therefore, was not considered to have a clinically significant impact on cortisol reference values.

Clinical Reference
Recommendations for in-depth reading of a clinical nature

1. Eisenhofer G, Grebe S, Cheung N-K V.Monoamine-Producing Tumors. In: Rafai N, Horvath AR, Witter CT, eds. Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics. 6th ed. Elsevier, 2018: 1421

2. Lin CL, Wu TJ, Machacek DA, Jiang NS, Kao PC. Urinary free cortisol and cortisone determined by high performance liquid chromatography in the diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1997;82(1):151-155

3. Dodds HM, Taylor PJ, Cannell GR, Pond SM. A high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of cortisol and metabolites in placental perfusate. Anal Biochem. 1997;247(2):342-347. doi:10.1006/abio.1997.2074

Method Description
Describes how the test is performed and provides a method-specific reference

The cortisol and cortisone are extracted from the resulting supernatant by an online extraction utilizing high-throughput liquid chromatography. This is followed by conventional liquid chromatography and analysis on a tandem mass spectrometer equipped with a heated nebulizer ion source (APCI). Deuterated cortisol (d4-cortisol, d7-cortisone) is added to a 0.1 mL sample as an internal standard. Cortisol, Cortisone and d4-cortisol are extracted from the specimens using online turbulent flow high-performance liquid chromatography extraction.(Unpublished Mayo method)

PDF Report
Indicates whether the report includes an additional document with charts, images or other enriched information

No

Day(s) Performed
Outlines the days the test is performed. This field reflects the day that the sample must be in the testing laboratory to begin the testing process and includes any specimen preparation and processing time before the test is performed. Some tests are listed as continuously performed, which means that assays are performed multiple times during the day.

Monday through Friday

Report Available
The interval of time (receipt of sample at Mayo Clinic Laboratories to results available) taking into account standard setup days and weekends. The first day is the time that it typically takes for a result to be available. The last day is the time it might take, accounting for any necessary repeated testing.

2 to 6 days

Specimen Retention Time
Outlines the length of time after testing that a specimen is kept in the laboratory before it is discarded

14 days

Performing Laboratory Location
Indicates the location of the laboratory that performs the test

Rochester

Fees :
Several factors determine the fee charged to perform a test. Contact your U.S. or International Regional Manager for information about establishing a fee schedule or to learn more about resources to optimize test selection.

  • Authorized users can sign in to Test Prices for detailed fee information.
  • Clients without access to Test Prices can contact Customer Service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Prospective clients should contact their account representative. For assistance, contact Customer Service.

Test Classification
Provides information regarding the medical device classification for laboratory test kits and reagents. Tests may be classified as cleared or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and used per manufacturer instructions, or as products that do not undergo full FDA review and approval, and are then labeled as an Analyte Specific Reagent (ASR) product.

This test was developed and its performance characteristics determined by Mayo Clinic in a manner consistent with CLIA requirements. It has not been cleared or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

CPT Code Information
Provides guidance in determining the appropriate Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code(s) information for each test or profile. The listed CPT codes reflect Mayo Clinic Laboratories interpretation of CPT coding requirements. It is the responsibility of each laboratory to determine correct CPT codes to use for billing.

CPT codes are provided by the performing laboratory.

82530

LOINC® Information
Provides guidance in determining the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) values for the order and results codes of this test. LOINC values are provided by the performing laboratory.

Test Id Test Order Name Order LOINC Value
CORTU Cortisol, Free, U 43126-2
Result Id Test Result Name Result LOINC Value
Applies only to results expressed in units of measure originally reported by the performing laboratory. These values do not apply to results that are converted to other units of measure.
8546 Cortisol, U 14158-0
TM93 Collection Duration (h) 13362-9
VL47 Volume (mL) 3167-4

Test Setup Resources

Setup Files
Test setup information contains test file definition details to support order and result interfacing between Mayo Clinic Laboratories and your Laboratory Information System.

Excel | Pdf

Sample Reports
Normal and Abnormal sample reports are provided as references for report appearance.

Normal Reports | Abnormal Reports

SI Sample Reports
International System (SI) of Unit reports are provided for a limited number of tests. These reports are intended for international account use and are only available through MayoLINK accounts that have been defined to receive them.

SI Normal Reports | SI Abnormal Reports

Test Update Resources

Change Type Effective Date
File Definition - Result ID 2024-10-22