We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Random Plasma Glucose Tests Could Predict Diabetes

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 30 Jul 2019
Print article
Image: New research suggests random plasma blood glucose tests can identify diabetes patients (Photo courtesy of Chris Hannemann).
Image: New research suggests random plasma blood glucose tests can identify diabetes patients (Photo courtesy of Chris Hannemann).
Diabetes is a major health problem in the USA, yet over seven million Americans with diabetes go undiagnosed. Diabetes is the major cause of kidney failure, blindness, and non-traumatic leg amputations in adults in the USA and a leading cause of stroke and heart disease.

Early diagnosis allows the use of lifestyle changes or medications that could help prevent or delay the progression from prediabetes to diabetes and help keep diabetes from worsening. When diagnosis is delayed, diabetes-related complications could develop before treatment starts.

A team of scientists working with the Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA, USA) conducted a retrospective analysis of the association of outpatient random plasma glucose (RPG) levels with the subsequent clinical diagnosis of diabetes. Study subjects were veterans with data in the Veterans Administration (VA) Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW).

The team selected veterans who (a) did not have a diabetes diagnosis during a baseline year (365 days) in 2002–2007; (b) had three or more measurements of random plasma/serum glucose (RPG) during the baseline year, along with assessments of other demographic variables and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors; and (c) had subsequent continuity of primary care [≥1 primary care provider (PCP) visit per year for five years immediately following the baseline year].

The scientists reported that over a five-year follow-up, about 10% of the total study group developed diabetes. Elevated random plasma glucose levels, though not meeting the diagnostic threshold for diabetes, accurately predicted the development of diabetes within the following five years. Patients with at least two random plasma glucose measurements of 115 mg/dL or higher within a 12-month period were highly likely to be diagnosed with diabetes within a few years. Glucose levels of 130 mg/dL or higher were even more predictive of diabetes. Development of diabetes was infrequent in subjects whose highest random plasma glucose levels were below 110 mg/dL.

The authors recommended that patients receive follow-up diagnostic testing for diabetes, such as a fasting glucose or HbA1c test, if they have two random glucose tests showing levels of 115 mg/dL or higher. This approach would very likely be cost-effective, they say, because clinicians can use testing that is already being done during routine outpatient visits. Using random glucose levels for screening could identify patients at higher risk for diabetes, leading to earlier intervention to prevent or control the disease. The study was published on July 19, 2019, in the journal PLOS ONE.”

Related Links:
Emory University School of Medicine

Gold Member
Chagas Disease Test
CHAGAS Cassette
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Uric Acid and Blood Glucose Meter
URIT-10
New
Toxoplasma Gondii Immunoassay
Toxo IgM AccuBind ELISA Kit

Print article

Channels

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.