OPTIMedical OPTI CCA-TS, Operator'S Manual, Page: 219 / 271

Operator’s Manual – OPTI CCA-TS Glu-1
ANALYTES
GLUCOSE
Glucose (Glu)
Clinical Significance
1
Glucose is the primary energy source of the body with the brain and erythrocytes being totally dependent
upon glucose for their energy requirements. Therefore the blood glucose concentration plays a central
role in energy metabolism and its maintenance is essential for survival. The concentration of glucose in
the blood is determined by a balance between the utilization of glucose and its intake from the diet or
from synthesis within the body. Alterations in this balance may produce either hyperglycaemia (elevated
blood glucose levels) or hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose levels). Both of these conditions have serious
consequences for health and require treatment, which explains why measurement of blood glucose is one
of the most frequently requested laboratory tests. In addition the treatment for hyperglycaemia has the
potential to make the patient hypoglycaemic if the patient is not carefully monitored.
Abnormal Levels
Hyperglycaemia
can be due to a number of causes, which can be subdivided into those due to
diabetes
mellitus or those due to non-diabetic causes. Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome of chronic hyperglycaemia,
which is due to either absolute insulin deficiency, or reduced tissue response to insulin, or both. It is a
common condition, which is diagnosed according to strict criteria that rely upon measurement of the
blood glucose level. Nondiabetic causes of hyperglycaemia include postprandial (occurs immediately
after a carbohydrate-containing meal),
factitious
(blood taken from an arm where glucose is being
infused), drugs (produce a tissue insensitivity to insulin), non-pancreatic endocrine disease (excessive
production of anti-insulin hormones), pancreatic disorders (secondary diabetes mellitus, and stress
(physical and psychogenic types causing excess secretion of cortisol and catecholamines).
Hypoglycaemia is an acute medical condition with a number of characteristic signs and symptoms
which are accompanied by biochemical hypoglycaemia and which are relieved by the administration
of glucose. The causes of hypoglycaemia can be divided into three groups: medication/toxins, reactive
hypoglycaemia and fasting hypoglycaemia. Hypoglycaemia due to excessive amounts of certain
medications or toxins include insulin (insulin overdose is the most common cause of hypoglycaemia),
oral hypoglycaemic or sulphonylureas, ethanol and other drugs such as salicylate and propanalol.
Reactive Hypoglycaemia
occurs, within 5-hours of a carbohydrate meal in otherwise normal patients, in
patients with early adult onset diabetes mellitus and in patients who have had gastric surgery.
Fasting Hypoglycaemia can be due to insulinomas, non-pancreatic tumors, endocrine disorders, liver
failure, sepsis, renal failure or autoimmune disorders.