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Chemistry

Analytes, methods, and interpretation across metabolism, electrolytes, acid-base balance, endocrinology, and toxicology.

Lessons
17
Sections
12
Sources checked
Aug 29 – Sep 11, 2026

Carbohydrates

  1. Carbohydrate Metabolism and Glucose TestingStart here

    Interpreting glucose results requires knowledge of carbohydrate metabolism, specimen handling, analytical methods, and diagnostic criteria for dysglycemia, hyperglycemic crises, and hypoglycemia.

Lipids

  1. Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Dyslipidemia

    Lipoprotein structure, transport, measurement, standardization, and characteristic dyslipidemia patterns guide lipid-result interpretation.

Heme Derivatives

  1. Heme Synthesis, Porphyrias, and Bilirubin

    Heme synthesis, symptom-directed porphyria testing, bilirubin fractionation, and specimen handling connect pathway defects with interpretable laboratory patterns.

Enzymes

  1. Enzyme Kinetics and Diagnostic Enzymology

    Enzyme kinetics, activity methods, tissue sources, isoenzymes, specimen effects, and macroenzymes guide interpretation of diagnostic enzyme results.

Proteins and Nitrogen Compounds

  1. Plasma Proteins and Electrophoresis

    Amino acid and protein chemistry, quantitative protein methods, electrophoresis, and paired urine and cerebrospinal fluid studies guide protein result interpretation.

  2. Nonprotein Nitrogen Compounds and Renal Markers

    Urea, uric acid, creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and ammonia reflect nitrogen metabolism, renal filtration, purine turnover, and hepatic nitrogen clearance.

Disease Markers

  1. Tumor and Cardiac Markers

    Tumor and cardiac marker interpretation depends on biomarker kinetics, serial results from the same assay platform, and the analytic limits of sandwich immunoassays.

Acid-Base and Blood Gases

  1. Acid-Base Balance and Blood GasesUpdated

    Interpreting blood gases requires Henderson-Hasselbalch physiology, recognition of the four primary acid-base disorders, expected compensation rules, oxygen transport, and strict specimen handling.

Electrolytes and Water Balance

  1. Water Balance, Sodium, and Potassium

    Serum sodium reflects water balance and tonicity, serum potassium reflects the small extracellular fraction of body potassium, and both results depend on renal regulation plus specimen handling.

  2. Chloride, Bicarbonate, Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphate

    Chloride and total carbon dioxide change in opposite directions to maintain electroneutrality. Calcium, magnesium, and phosphate share regulation by parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, and FGF23, and they share specimen pitfalls.

  3. Lactate, the Anion Gap, and Renal Integration

    Lactate measurement and anion-gap calculations support the classification of metabolic acidosis, expose analytic and preanalytic pitfalls, and connect urine measurements to nephron handling.

  4. Trace Elements

    Trace-element results depend on metal-free collection, so interpret a reported concentration together with its collection materials, ICP-MS quality practices, and matrix.

Endocrinology

  1. Endocrine Methods and the Pituitary-Thyroid Axes

    Pituitary and thyroid test results depend on hormone chemistry, secretion timing, carrier-protein binding, specimen collection, and immunoassay design.

  2. The Adrenal, Gonadal, and Parathyroid-Vitamin D Axes

    Adrenal, gonadal, and parathyroid-vitamin D results depend on collection time, posture, tube and temperature, and on whether the reported value came from an immunoassay or a mass-spectrometric method.

Vitamins and Nutrition

  1. Vitamins and Nutrition

    Vitamin testing measures one compartment, which may not represent body stores, so interpret a nutritional result with the analyte chosen, specimen handling, and inflammation.

Toxicology

  1. Toxicology Principles and Exposure Testing

    Toxicology testing depends on choosing a specimen that matches the compound and the time since exposure, then choosing between a presumptive screen and a method that can identify what is present.

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

  1. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Overdose Testing

    A drug concentration is interpretable only with a timed specimen, and the same pharmacokinetic and assay principles apply to acetaminophen and salicylate overdose testing and drugs-of-abuse screening.