A new, modern, cost-saving micro/macro method for the determination of serum fructosamine

Serum/plasma fructosamine (SeFa) concentration is a reliable indicator used in human diabetic control. Tests for monitoring the carbohydrate/energy me tabolism of(farm) animals are less commonly performed in veterinary laborat ories, since most of the reliable determinations, both automated and manual , are relatively expensive. The aim of this study was to develop a precise, money- land time-) saving automated micro method for measuring SeFa. ELISA microplates (20 mu L samples and 200 mu L reagents) and an automatic micro plate autoreader were used. The classical nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) stain reagent solution of Johnson et al. (1982) was modified using a SIGMA reage nt to render it stable for up to one year. SeFa concentrations measured by the new method in 30 human blood plasma samples were compared with values o btained by the standard (generally used) LaRoche kit procedure. Fifteen cow , 13 dog and 18 chicken plasma samples were assayed by the new automated 'm icro' method as well as by the manual test tube 'macro' method commonly use d earlier. The modified reagent was applied for both methods. The coefficie nt of correlation (r) between the results obtained by the two methods was c onsistently between 0.94 and 0.98 (p < 0.001).