Cotinine urine test

Cotinine is a substance found in tobacco and it is a major metabolite of Nicotine. This means that Nicotine is dissolved into cotinine at some point of the metabolization process. A cotinine urine test is designed to track the amount of cotinine in your system and see if the levels are too high.

Currently cotinine is being studied as a possible treatment for depression, PTSD, schizophrenia and other difficult conditions. A COT urine test is here to help you and doctors to determine if the substance is affecting your everyday dealings. At some point the drug was even developed but it was never marketed.

Nicotine and Cotinine urine test

As with most drugs and substances, Cotinine is stored in urine for several days after the drug’s effects wear off. Nicotine urine test is based on this method of testing, using urine to determine if there are any traces of the substance in your system. A nicotine urine test works in much the same way as this test does.

Urine based test strips are widely used for drug screenings, being even built into dip cards and test cups. Their 99% accuracy rating makes these sensitive drug tests a staple of drug screening experiences. This is why we can find COT on a drug test; the sensitivity of the screening devices makes this a possibility.

The Cotinine drug test is a useful tool given the experimental nature of cotinine as a treatment drug. Since the studies are still ongoing the test can be helpful to track the situation.

Cotinine

In a 24-hour urine, approximately 5% of a nicotine dose is excreted as unchanged drug with 10% as cotinine and 35% as hydroxycotinine; the concentrations of other metabolites are believed to account for less than 5%.

While cotinine is thought to be an inactive metabolite, it’s elimination profile is more stable than that of nicotine which is largely urine pH dependent. As a result, cotinine is considered a good biological marker for determining nicotine use.

The plasma half-life of nicotine is approximately 60 minutes following inhalation or parenteral administration.

Nicotine and cotinine are rapidly eliminated by the kidney; the window of detection for cotinine in urine at a cutoff level of 200 ng/mL is expected to be up to 2-3 days after nicotine use.

Instructions for Nicotine Test Strips

Bring tests, specimens, buffer and/or controls to room temperature (15-30°C) before use, then just follow few simple steps.

1. Open: Remove the COT Drug Test Stripe from its sealed pouch, or remove one strip from the canister, and use it as soon as possible. For the best result, the assay should be performed within an hour.
2. Dip: Hold the strip by the end, where the product name is printed. To avoid contamination, do not touch the strip membrane. Dip the test strip in the urine specimen for at least 10-15 seconds. Do not immerse past the maximum line (MAX) on the test strip.
3. Wait: After the test has finished running, remove the strip from the specimen and place it on a non-absorbent flat surface.
4. Read: Start the timer and wait for the colored band(s) to appear. The result should be read at 5 minutes. Do not interpret the result after 10 minutes.

How to read nicotine test kit