Diabetes is a life-long condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It causes blood sugar levels to become abnormally high, which poses a significant danger to your body. Although it’s incurable, it can be monitored and controlled.

Randox Laboratories provide a range of diabetes related diagnostic reagents, that cover many areas from disease recognition and diagnosis to monitoring symptoms and complications associated with the condition.

The three main types of Diabetes are Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational Diabetes.

Gestational diabetes is the development of the condition during pregnancy. It is the result of the body being unable to produce enough insulin to meet the extra needs of the baby and mother. It can cause serious problems if not controlled, to reduce the risks Gestational diabetes is consistently monitored.

Randox Laboratories provide an extensive range of reagents for the accurate testing of diabetes. One of the reagents is Fructosamine in which ‘testing has been identified as being the best for patient care’.

Fructosamine & HbA1c 

HbA1c for example – gives us an indication of what an individual’s average blood sugar level has been over recent weeks/months. This is significant for those who suffer from diabetes because the higher the levels of HbA1c, the higher the chance of an individual suffering from further diabetes related issues.

The latex enhanced immunoturbidimetric method which the RX series utilises makes, the test simple and quick to perform. The removal of the pre-dilution step removes the risk of human error compromising your results. Certified by the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP), the RX daytona+, RX imola & RX modena are all capable of utilising direct on-board HbA1c which can revolutionise your diabetes testing capabilities.

D-3-Hydroxybutyrate (Ranbut)

D-3-Hydroxybutyrate (Ranbut) is another reagent Randox provides.  D-3-Hydroxybutyrate is the most abundant of the three main ketones produced in the body, accounting for 75% of total ketones in the body. Due to the higher levels of D-3-Hydroxybutyrate, it is the more sensitive marker for the diagnosis of ketosis.

Ketosis is a metabolic process, occurring when the body switches from glucose to predominantly fat metabolism for energy production, this happens when carbohydrate availability reaches low levels. The metabolism of fatty acids in the liver, results in the production of chemical by-products known as ketone bodies or ketones. Ketosis occurs when the body produces more ketones than the liver can process.

High levels of ketones present in the body can be dangerous  leading to Diabetic Ketoacidosis, which being left untreated can cause damage to vital organs and in some instances may lead to a coma or death.

Benefits of Ranbut include;

• Superior methodology when compared to other commercially available ketone detection tests. For example, the nitroprusside method used in semi-quantitative dipstick tests only detects acetone and acetoacetate. D-3 hydroxybutyrate is the most abundant ketone produced during ketosis the measurement of this analyte is more sensitive and specific.
• Exceptional correlation coefficient of r=0.9954 when compared against other commercially available methods.
• Excellent precision of <3.5% CV.
• Calibrator and controls available offering a complete testing package.
• Applications available detailing instrument-specific settings for the convenient use of the Randox D-3- Hydroxybutyrate (Ranbut) assay on a wide range of clinical chemistry analysers.
• New liquid stable Ranbut assays available.

Non-Esterified Fatty Acids (NEFA)

Non-Esterified Fatty Acids is another reagent Randox provides, which are important metabolites stored in adipose tissue. The dominant source of NEFA is abdominal subcutaneous fat. Cross-sectional studies have consistently documented that circulating NEFA levels are proportional to body fat storage and demonstrated positive correlations between fasting NEFA levels and obesity, insulin resistance and glucose tolerance. It too is an accurate marker regarding diabetes.

Non-Esterified Fatty Acids concentrations are strongly associated with insulin resistance. In the fasting state, the resistance of adipose tissue to the antilipolytic effect of insulin causes the extensive release of NEFA into circulation. Consequently, elevated NEFA levels exacerbate insulin resistance through diminishing insulin- stimulated glucose intake into the skeletal muscle, directly affecting insulin signalling.

Benefits of NEFA include;
• Exceptional correlation coefficient of r=0.98 when compared against other commercially available methods.
• Excellent precision of <5% CV.
• Extensive measuring range of 0.072- 2.24mmol/l for the comfortable detection of clinically important results.
• Calibrator and controls available offering a complete testing package.
• Applications available detailing instrument-specific settings for the convenient use of the Randox NEFA assay on a wide range of clinical chemistry analysers.

Randox’s Reagents available for diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes.

Fructosamine

Glucose

HbA1c

Albumin

Creatinine

Cystatin C

D-3-Hydroxybutyrate

Microalbumin

Non-Esterified Fatty Acids

‘The Randox enzymatic method offers, improved specificity and reliability compared to the conventional NBT-based methods, as the enzymatic method does not suffer from non-specific interferences, unlike the existing methods which can also be time-consuming and difficult to automate. The Randox dedicated Fructosamine calibrator and controls are assigned relative to human serum glycated with 14-C glucose, directly reflecting the nature of the patient sample. Randox provides testing and reagents that are reliable and accurate.’