Performance of a Veterinary Portable Glucose Meter for Blood Glucose Concentration Measurement in Red‐Eared Slider Turtles (
Trachemys scripta elegans
Ava Cabble, Marina Liles, Michael Bonas, Nicola Di Girolamo ABSTRACT
Background
There is limited knowledge about the accuracy and precision of portable blood glucose meters (PBGM) for measuring blood glucose in reptiles.
Objective
We aimed to evaluate a veterinary PBGM for measuring blood glucose concentration in red‐eared sliders by comparison with a laboratory reference method, and to assess the influence of packed cell volume on PBGM measurements.
Methods
Blood samples were obtained from 20 red‐eared sliders from the jugular vein. Two strips of a veterinary PBGM on the canine setting were run consecutively. Immediately afterward, the blood was centrifuged, and the plasma was separated into a clean tube. Plasma was frozen and shipped for glucose measurement via a hexokinase analyzer. Passing‐Bablok regression and Bland–Altman analysis were conducted to determine agreement.
Results
The veterinary PBGM overestimated blood glucose concentration, with a mean overestimation of 28.0 mg/dL (95% CI: 16.7–45.0, Limits of Agreement: 5.8–50.3 mg/dL). The bias was proportional, increasing at higher blood glucose concentrations. The mean difference was 23.1 mg/dL in the samples with PCV ≤ 19% ( n = 9), 30.8 mg/dL in the samples with PCV between 20% and 29% ( n = 7), and 34.4 mg/dL in the samples with PCV greater than or equal to 30% ( n = 4). Intra‐assay coefficients of variations, a measure of precision, were, on average, 4.5%, ranging from 0% to 17.4%.
Conclusions
The use of the veterinary PBGM evaluated in this study in red‐eared sliders may alter both treatment and diagnostic decisions due to the overestimation of glucose concentrations.