ABSTRACT
The level of fructosamine was determined in the serum of 278 individuals ranging in age from 20 to 80 years who passed a physical check-up. The 130 males and 148 females had mean ages + standard deviation of 44.0+15.0 and 40.3+12.0 years, respectively. Serum fructosamine concentration was assayed using nitroblue tetrazoleum (NBT) reduction in alkaline medium. The reference values of serum fructosamine were 226 µmol/L to 296 µmol/L (Mean = 260.7, SD = 17.6 µmol/L). The serum fructosamine is unaffected by sex. Effect of food intake on fruc tosamine level has been carried out on a group of healthy subjects (n = 36). The means and SDs of serum fructosamine at eight-hour fasting, two-hour post-prandial and non-fasting specimens were studied and values of 269.4+17.9, 269.3+14.8 and 268.6+15.3 µmol/L respectively, were obtained. Results reveal that food intake has virtually no effect on fructosamine values (Analysis of variance p>0.05). Parallel assays of 46-paired sera was Y = 17.5 + 0.95 X, whereas X and Y were serum and plasma fructosamine levels, respectively. Values of plasma fructosamine were statistical significantly difference from those of serum (p<0.001). A small discrepancy of 1.9 percent was observed. Thus, whenever plasma is used as sample for fructosamine test, a slightly higher value of fructosamine would be obtained.