Accuracy of 5 Point-of-Care Glucometers in C57BL/6J Mice

Despite few published studies that assess the accuracy of glucometers in laboratory animals, glucometers are commonly used in animal research. We set out to determine the accuracy of 5 point-of-care glucometers (POCG) when used to evaluate murine whole blood, plasma, and serum samples. The POCG tested included one veterinary device (POCG A) and 4 humanuse instruments (POCG B through E). Whole blood, plasma, and serum samples from 50 female C57BL/6J mice were analyzed on all POCG, and serum was analyzed on a reference biochemical analyzer. The mean blood glucose concentration (BGC) measured in whole blood by using POCG A was greater than that on the biochemical analyzer, whereas the mean BGC in whole blood according to POCG B through E did not differ significantly from that on the biochemical analyzer. Mean BGC in plasma and serum did not differ between POCG B and E and the biochemical analyzer, whereas the plasma and serum BGC values from POCG C and D were greater than the mean BGC from the biochemical analyzer. The accuracy of each POCG for each sample type was evaluated by analyzing mean differences, correlations, and Bland-Altman graphs. We found that the 4 human-use POCG are appropriate for use with whole blood from female C57BL/6J mice, whereas only 2 of the evaluated POCG were sufficiently accurate for use with plasma or serum.