The Aminolvulinic-Acid, also known as Porphyrin, test helps in diagnosing and sometimes monitoring porphyrias. This test measures porphyrins and their precursors in urine, blood, and stool. Porphyrins are a group of compounds defined by their chemical structure. These compounds are by-products of heme synthesis and are normally present at low concentrations in blood and other body fluids. This test can be done when you have symptoms that suggest a neurologic porphyria, for example abdominal pain, tingling or numbness in the hands or feet, or a cutaneous porphyria, for example redness, blistering, or scarring of sun-exposed skin.