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Blood Urea Nitrogen

(continued)

What Affects the Test

Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include:

Taking medicines, such as amphotericin B (such as Fungizone), nafcillin, aminoglycosides, kanamycin (Kantrex), tobramycin (Nebcin), corticosteroids, tetracycline antibiotics, and, rarely, the antibiotic chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin).
Taking diuretics, which can cause dehydration.
Your age. BUN levels rise as you get older.
Your sex. Women and children have lower BUN levels than men.

What To Think About

A BUN test may be done with a blood creatinine test. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine tests can be used together to find the BUN-to-creatinine ratio (BUN:creatinine). For more information, see the topic Creatinine and Creatinine Clearance.
BUN levels may be measured regularly in people who have kidney dialysis. BUN levels are used to see how well dialysis is working.
A glomerular filtration rate may be done for people with chronic kidney disease to regularly check how well the kidneys are working.

Other Works Consulted
Chernecky CC, Berger BJ (2008). Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures, 5th ed. St. Louis: Saunders.
Fischbach FT, Dunning MB III, eds. (2009). Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Pagana KD, Pagana TJ (2010). Mosby’s Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests, 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.

By	Healthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer	Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer	Tushar J. Vachharajani, MD, FASN, FACP - Nephrology
Last Revised	August 9, 2010

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WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

Last Updated: August 09, 2010

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.