Urine bilirubin 1+ indicates increased bilirubin. Urine bilirubin is an indicator used to detect liver disease, and if urine has high urine bilirubinogen, it indicates possible liver and biliary disease, anemia, or jaundice.
Liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatitis can cause impaired liver function. The liver is the site of bilirubin conversion, and when the liver is damaged, the ability to convert bilirubin is reduced. Liver damage can also lead to blocked excretion of direct bilirubin, which flows back into the bloodstream and causes elevated bilirubin in the blood.
Diseases such as leukemia, severe anemia, malaria, and hemolytic anemia can destroy the body’s red blood cells, allowing indirect bilirubin to be released into the bloodstream, which the liver cannot fully convert, resulting in increased bilirubin in the blood.
Biliary tract diseases such as gallstones, bile duct tumors, and pancreatic head cancer can cause bilirubin to fail to enter the intestine smoothly and back up into the bloodstream, leading to elevated bilirubin. Urinary bilirubin can also be used to confirm jaundice, cholestatic jaundice, hepatocellular jaundice, and hemolytic jaundice. Cholestasis increases internal pressure, ruptures capillary bile ducts, and prevents bilirubin from draining into the intestine, and hemolytic jaundice weakens the metabolism of bilirubin by hepatocytes, causing an increase in urinary bilirubin.