Fructosamine

Serum fructosamine measures the glycation of serum proteins (principally albumin) and provides an accurate measure of the average blood glucose concentration over 1-2 weeks (dogs) or 1-3 weeks (cats). This can be used to monitor diabetes mellitus therapy as well as for diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. It is particularly useful in cats for differentiating stress hyperglycaemia from more persistently elevated blood glucose levels, and may be of some use in the diagnosis of canine insulinoma. The fructosamine concentration is affected by hypoproteinaemia and hypoalbuminaemia.

Small animals

Causes of increased fructosamine

• Untreated diabetes mellitus (usually >400μmol/l)
• Poor metabolic control of diabetes mellitus

Causes of decreased fructosamine

• Insulinoma

• Hypoglycaemia due to excess insulin if over 2-3 weeks

For monitoring glycaemic control during insulin therapy, the following guidelines may be applied:

Fructosamine (μmol/l)	Comment
<300	Risk of hypoglycaemic episodes
350-400	Excellent control
400-450	Good control
450-500	Fair control
>500	Poor control

Complementary testes

Plasma glucose, total protein, albumin. When monitoring diabetes mellitus, if there is discordancy between the fructosamine result and the reported clinical response, a glucose curve may be indicated.

Authors & References

Small Animals NationWide Laboratories