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Point-of-care Uric Acid Meter Reasonably Comparable to Lab Assay
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The commercial HumaSensplus point-of-care meter, which provides immediate readings with capillary blood samples via fingertip puncture, was able to give uric acid measurements that were reasonably comparable to those collected through laboratory assay, according to findings published in Arthritis Research and Therapy.
“[Uric acid] is presently routinely measured by a uricase-based laboratory assay on plasma samples obtained after venous puncture,” Stéphanie Fabre, MD, MSc, of Lariboisière Hospital, Paris Diderot University, and colleagues wrote. “An accurate point-of-care [uric acid] meter would allow for rapid and more frequent [uric acid] testing by health care professionals or self-measurement by patients. Such a device may improve patients’ adherence to urate-lowering therapies, a key factor of management success known to be particularly poor in gout patients”
To determine the reliability of uric acid measurements taken the HumaSensplus meter, which is developed and sold by Human Diagnostics Worldwide, the researchers recruited 238 adult patients from a diabetology daycare center at a Paris hospital, seen between January and March 2016. All participants had diabetes, and none were excluded due to having gout.
Fabre and colleagues measured uric acid levels in all participants using both the commercial meter and through the typical method at the clinic’s biochemistry laboratory, and then compared the results by linear regression, Bland-Altman plots, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Lin’s concordance coefficient.
Measurement values outside the dynamic range of the HumaSensplus meter, low or high, were analyzed separately. In addition, the best capillary uric acid thresholds for detecting hyperuricemia were determined by receiver operating characteristic curves. The researchers also determined the impact of potential confounding factors, such as demographic and biological parameters or treatments. A total of 205 patients were included in the final analysis, as 33 participants had missing measurements.
According to the researchers, ICC was 0.9 (95% CI, 0.87-0.92), Lin’s coefficient was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.88-0.93) and the Bland-Altman plot demonstrated good agreement over all values. Seventeen patients showed values outside that were dynamic range — low values were concordant with plasma values, although high values were considered uninterpretable, the researchers wrote. In addition, capillary uric acid thresholds of 299 and 340 mol/l gave the best results for detecting hyperuricemia.
“For reliable, immediate [uric acid] measurement in capillary blood samples obtained by fingertip puncture, HumaSensplus meters were easy to use and gave results that were reasonably comparable to those of the uricase laboratory assay,” Fabre and colleagues wrote. “HumaSensplus-based capillary blood [uric acid] measurements can be useful in the clinic and in epidemiologic studies. Further studies are needed to determine the performance of the meter in gout patients and whether frequent [uric acid] self-measurement can improve patient adherence to urate-lowering therapies and achievement of target [uric acid] levels, especially when combined with educational programs and/or mobile application use.” – by Jason Laday
Disclosure: Fabre reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for additional researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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