Effect of Delayed Serum Separation on Glucose Concentration of Dogs at Room Temperature

Blood glucose determination is one of the most common clinical diagnostic tests. Delays between blood sample collection and analysis are common in veterinary medicine in field conditions. Since, blood cells continuously metabolize glucose via anaerobic glycolysis, the time of determination of blood glucose after drawing the blood is important. Observational study was carried out to study the change in glucose concentration due to delay in serum separation from January 2019 to March 2019. A total of 35 blood samples (10ml from each dog) were taken from apparently healthy dogs. Whole blood specimens were divided into 14 clot activator tubes and one tube was allowed to clot for 20 mins and then centrifuged immediately. Thus, obtained glucose value was considered as baseline value. The remaining samples were stored at 25°C, and serum glucose value was measured by serum analyzer at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 24 hours post collection. Glucose concentrations were compared using Repeated Measures ANOVA. The decline in serum glucose concentration for all samples stored at 25°C was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). Mean glucose value of 1 hour was statistically different (p<0.05) from baseline value. At 25°C, serum glucose concentration was found to be decreasing with mean of 10.8% per hour. Hence, blood glucose should be determined within as short a time as possible after drawing the blood from dogs.