Serum fructosamine as a screening test for diabetes mellitus in non-healthy middle-aged to older dogs.

Diabetes mellitus is a common endocrine disorder among non-healthy middle-aged to older dogs. Previous studies have shown that serum fructosamine can be used to detect the chronic unregulated hyperglycaemia in Diabetes mellitus. The present study was therefore conducted to assess the value of serum fructosamine as a screening test for Diabetes mellitus among non-healthy middle-aged to older dogs in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values. A total of 99 non-healthy dogs (16 dogs with Diabetes mellitus and 83 dogs with other diseases) with an age ranging from 6 to 15 years were included in the study. Using the upper reference limit for serum fructosamine (343.8 mumol/l), sensitivity and specificity were 0.88 and 0.99, respectively and assuming the prevalence of Diabetes mellitus to be 0.05, the positive and negative predictive values were 0.82 and 0.99, respectively. Apparently, serum fructosamine could also be used to distinguish hyperglycaemia non-diabetic dogs from hyperglycaemic diabetic dogs. Thus, the present study showed that serum fructosamine is a reliable screening test for Diabetes mellitus among non-healthy middle-aged to older dogs.