In vitro diagnostics in diabetes: Meeting the challenge

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. There is a large population in the world suffering from this disease, and the healthcare costs increase every year. It is a chronic disorder resultin g from insulin deficiency and hyperglycemia and has a high risk of developm ent of complications for the eyes, kidneys, peripheral nerves, heart, and b lood vessels. Quick diagnosis and early prevention are critical for the con trol of the disease status. Traditional biosensors such as glucose meters a nd glycohemoglobin test kits are widely used in vitro for this purpose beca use they are the two major indicators directly involved in diabetes diagnos is and long-term management. The market size and huge demand for these test s make it a model disease to develop new approaches to biosensors. In this review, we briefly summarize the principles of biosensors, the current comm ercial devices available for glucose and glycohemoglobin measurements, and the recent work in the area of artificial receptors and the potential for t he development of new devices for diabetes specifically connected with in v itro monitoring of glucose and glycohemoglobin HbA(1c). (C) 1999 American A ssociation for Clinical Chemistry.