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Neisseria gonorrhoeae NAAT

A urine test that looks for the genetic material of the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection.

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert reviewAlso called GC, NG, GC NAATLOINC 60256-5

What it is

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This test is a nucleic acid amplification test, or NAAT. It finds tiny amounts of the bacteria's genetic material in a sample, so it can pick up infections that cause no symptoms. The result is printed as detected or not detected. The same kind of test is also done on swabs from the vagina, cervix, urethra, rectum or throat.

Why it matters

Gonorrhea often causes no symptoms, but untreated infection can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and trouble getting pregnant in women, and to painful swelling near the testicles in men. A pregnant woman can pass it to her baby during birth. It can be cured with antibiotics, but some strains are becoming harder to treat, so finding it matters. US guidance recommends screening for sexually active women 24 and younger and for older women at increased risk. The evidence on screening men who have no symptoms is considered insufficient.

If it’s high

Detected means the test found genetic material from Neisseria gonorrhoeae in your sample. This is most often linked to a gonorrhea infection, which can be treated. No test is perfect, so your clinician will look at the result along with your symptoms, your partners and how recently you were treated.

Common causes

  • A current gonorrhea infection of the urinary or genital tract
  • Getting infected again from a partner who was not treated
  • Testing too soon after treatment, which CDC notes can raise the chance of a false-positive result (for example in throat tests at 7 days)
  • Rarely, a false-positive result

What can help

  • Talk with your clinician soon about treatment, since gonorrhea can be cured with antibiotics
  • Ask which recent partners should be tested and treated
  • Ask when it is safe to have sex again (CDC advises waiting 7 days after treatment and until all partners are treated)
  • Ask about testing for other infections, such as chlamydia, syphilis and HIV
  • Ask about retesting in about 3 months

If this applies to you

Gonorrhea NAAT means a little more for some people. Open the one that fits you.

Taking HIV PrEP

Gonorrhea testing follows the same schedule as syphilis in the CDC guideline. Depending on the kind of sex someone has, swabs from the throat or rectum may be used as well as urine.

Blood tests on HIV PrEP

What can affect your result

  • How the sample is collected: a first-catch sample works best, and a larger or later part of the stream can dilute it
  • Sample type: first-void urine for men and vaginal swabs for women are the best urogenital samples (CDC)
  • Site of infection: a urine test does not check the throat or rectum
  • Timing after treatment: testing a throat infection 7 days after treatment is more likely to be falsely positive (CDC)
  • Collecting more than the first part of the stream can dilute the sample and may lower the test's sensitivity (Labcorp).
  • A urine sample tests the urinary and genital tract only. Infection in the throat or rectum needs a swab from that site (CDC).
  • For women, a vaginal swab is the preferred sample, and urine is also accepted (CDC).
  • For a throat infection, CDC suggests a test of cure 7 to 14 days after treatment and notes that testing at 7 days might be more likely to give a false-positive result.

A first-catch urine sample is used, which means the first 20-30 mL of the stream. Labcorp asks you not to have urinated for at least one hour before collecting it. Follow the instructions your lab gives you. The result shows whether the bacteria's genetic material was present in the sample on the day it was collected.

When to talk to a clinician

See a clinician soon if you have burning when you urinate, discharge, pain or swelling in the testicles, pain in the lower belly, or bleeding between periods, even if a test was negative, because a test only reflects the sample you gave. If you are pregnant and test positive, tell your pregnancy care team. Seek urgent care for severe lower belly pain or fever.

Questions you could ask

  • How often should I be screened, given my age and situation?
  • Do I need swabs from other sites as well as a urine test?
  • Which of my recent partners should be tested and treated?
  • When should I be retested?
  • Should I also be tested for other infections?

Questions people ask

Why might I be asked to test again after treatment?

CDC advises retesting about 3 months after treatment because getting infected again is common, even if you think your partners were treated. A throat infection is also rechecked 7 to 14 days after treatment.

Can a urine test find gonorrhea in the throat or rectum?

No. A urine sample checks the urinary and genital tract. Infection in the throat or rectum is checked with a swab from that site, which your clinician can arrange.

Does a not detected result mean I'm clear of all STIs?

No. It means no gonorrhea genetic material was found in that sample. It does not cover infections picked up since the test, and it does not test for other infections such as chlamydia, syphilis or HIV.

Show the science and sources

For clinicians and researchers

NAATs amplify Neisseria gonorrhoeae nucleic acid, for example by transcription-mediated amplification of rRNA (Mayo and Labcorp use Aptima-type assays). CDC (2021) calls NAAT more sensitive than culture and notes it accepts the widest range of FDA-cleared specimens. Optimal urogenital specimens are first-void urine for men and vaginal swabs for women. Labcorp's gonorrhea NAA accepts endocervical, vaginal or male urethral swabs, first-void urine, or cervical cells in a liquid cytology vial, and collects 2 mL from a 20-30 mL first-catch urine. Mayo's miscellaneous-site test (for specimens such as eye swabs and peritoneal fluid that are not FDA-cleared for this assay) lists a reference value of Negative and is a lab-validated test. The test is qualitative. NAATs cannot give antibiotic susceptibility results, so CDC advises culture with susceptibility testing when treatment failure is suspected. A test of cure is advised only for pharyngeal infection, at 7 to 14 days. Labcorp prints LOINC 60256-5 (rRNA, urine) for the gonorrhea result in its combined urine test (180049) and 43305-2 (rRNA, specimen) for its stand-alone gonorrhea NAA (188086), which accepts swabs and urine.

LOINC 60256-5 (primary), 43305-2, 21416-3, 24111-7. Specimen: urine.

Sources

  1. Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021: Gonococcal Infections Among Adolescents and Adults, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021)
  2. About Gonorrhea, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  3. Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: Screening, US Preventive Services Task Force (2021)
  4. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, NAA (test 188086), Labcorp
  5. Chlamydia/Gonococcus/Mycoplasma genitalium, NAA, Urine (test 180049), Labcorp
  6. Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Miscellaneous Sites, Nucleic Acid Amplification, Varies (test MCTGC), Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Extended Catalog)
  7. LOINC codes verified with the NLM Clinical Tables LOINC search, U.S. National Library of Medicine

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review. Last reviewed 2026-10-03. How we build and check these pages.

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