Comparison of Point-of-Care Glucometers for Blood Glucose Determination in Cows, Goats and Fish

Abstract

Point-of-care glucometers are widely used in glucose assessment in research and critical case management in animals because they are cheap, portable, fast and easy to operate as well as the use of small sample quantity. However, there have been concerns about overestimation or underestimation of results in certain species. This study compared the accuracy and reliability of two human point-of-care glucometers for blood glucose determination in cows, goats and fish. Blood was collected from the jugular vein of goats and cows and caudal vein of the fish with a hypodermic syringe and two glucometers were used to determine the blood glucose concentrations immediately. Thereafter, 1 ml was put into a clean test tube treated with ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and the remaining 1ml was put into another clean test tube without anticoagulant. The samples were processed appropriately and plasma and serum harvested. Blood glucose test kit was used to measure glucose concentrations in plasma and serum by the glucose oxidase method. Data generated were analysed using correlation coefficient and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results showed that the mean value generated by Accu-chek active^® was comparable with that of plasma and both were higher than that obtained in serum in cow and goats while TysonBio Evolve^® over estimated the glucose by over 40% and 50% than Accu-chek active^®/plasma and serum respectively. These results underscore the importance of validation of glucometers before use in any species.