Fructosamine:
Why Fructosamine Test ?
CLINICAL INFORMATION
Glucose is a sugar (simple carbohydrate) that our body produces from the food that we consume. Glucose is the primary source of energy for our cells in the body. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease (a component of Metabolic Syndrome – and the signs include high BP, high blood sugar levels and excess body fat around the waist, abnormal cholesterol and triglycerides) that is caused due to high blood sugar in the blood. The function of the insulin hormone is to mobilize the glucose from the blood to enter the cells in our body (excess glucose is also stored as glycogen or in the form of fats) that helps us to provide the energy to perform our daily activities and physiological functions of our body. In diabetic patients, these insulin levels are either less secreted or not at all produced (based on the kind of diabetes they have eg, type-1Diabetes Mellitus, type-2Diabetes Mellitus, Autoimmune type etc), and hence their blood glucose levels remain elevated. Untreated chronic Diabetes mellitus patients have increased levels of blood glucose that can cause end-organ damage such as to the eyes, nerves, kidneys etc. Other complications include obesity, heart diseases including heart attack, stroke, neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, hearing loss, foot infections like sores, depression, dementia, prone to bacterial and fungal infections etc. To monitor the diagnosis of diabetes (for a shorter window period of time), there are certain tests like the estimation of blood sugars, urine sugar, insulin, Glucose Tolerance Test, C-Peptide tests etc.
Meanwhile, in the prognosis of patients with diabetes, certain tests are also important to monitor the long term prognosis (assessment of long-standing glycemic control) for effective treatment, such as evaluation of HbA1C (which measures average blood sugar over the previous 2 to 4 months), fructosamine etc. Fructosamine is a compound that results due to glycation (glycated Protein - binding of sugar with protein like albumin) of fructose sugar and a primary amine (i.e the amine group of amino-acid in proteins. More amount of blood glucose reflects more amount of fructosamine levels in the body, hence the fructosamine test shows the average level of glucose in the blood. The purpose of the fructosamine test is that it gives an indication of how well diabetes is kept under control in the past, as this test estimates the levels of glycated protein in the blood. These proteins circulate in the bloodstream for 14 to 21 days, hence its evaluation provides a longer window time of sugar levels in the blood. Therefore fructosamine test may be used as an alternative source for screening or to monitor the prognosis of chronic non-compliant diabetic patients. The fructosamine test is indicated in conditions such as hemolytic anaemia or blood loss (where rapid turnover of RBCs occur hence HbA1C may be misleadingly low), sickle cell anaemia or patients with haemoglobin variants, kidney failure (end-stage renal disease), liver disease, HIV, recent blood transfusions, the recent change in diabetic medications or insulin therapy etc. High fructosamine test results indicate high average blood glucose levels over the time period of the preceding 2 to 3 weeks (indicates blood glucose levels were not well controlled during the recent past). Low fructosamine may be reflected in liver cirrhosis, nephrotic syndrome, paraproteinemia, thyroid diseases etc. Clinical manifestations of diabetes include polyphagia (increased hunger), polydipsia (increased thirst), polyuria (frequent urination), weight loss, fatigue, wounds that do not heal, blurry vision, poor muscle strength, Urinary Tract Infection, dry itchy skin, and in men, it causes decreased sex drive and/or erectile dysfunction etc. Some factors that may interfere with this test are ascorbic acid (vitamin – C). Additional tests include glycated albumin test, HbA1C etc.
General Instructions:
Sample Requirement: Specimen - Blood sample collected from the vein. Test Preparation: None.
NOTE - Sample for specimen collections may vary based on the patient’s condition/cases according to the patient’s presenting complaints/signs or symptoms:
SPECIMEN REQUIREMENT (Special or Rare Cases) - As instructed and guided by Physician / Clinician / Pathologist / as per Laboratory’s requirements, according to procedures and protocols.
This Multi-Specialty Clinical Referral Laboratory RT DIAGNOSTICS provides precise and accurate tests with an extensive range of testing services to the medical centres to help in the diagnosis and identification of pathology in the test specimens for infectious diseases and also to evaluate the function of organ systems of the patient. It prevents further complications and helps to stabilize and restore health to near normalcy at the earliest without delay.
