Abstract

A rapid paper-strip test for the semiquantitating 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-OHBA) has been developed. The color develops within 5 min after applying the serum to the paper strip, and the purple color was read either visually or by reflectance meter. This can detect 3-OHBA levels as low as 0.1 mmol/L up to 2.0 mmol/L. The more concentrated sample can be measured on serial dilution. Clinical usefulness has been tested in a summer camp for insulin-dependent diabetic children as well as in a routine diabetes clinic. Serum 3-OHBA levels ranged from > 100 µumol/L to 4 mmol/L in all the subjects before breakfast in a summer camp. In four subjects, 3-OHBA was elevated to the level of 2–4 mmol/L, and only one of these four subjects exhibited ketonuria by nitroprusside test. In a diabetes clinic, a new paper-strip test for 3-OHBA has revealed ketonemia in 34 (74%) of 46 diabetic subjects, while nitro-prusside test revealed ketonemia in only 4 (13%). The present paper-strip test for 3-OHBA is sensitive enough to detect levels as low as 0.1 mmol/L and is clinically useful for rapid detection of ketosis proneness as well as for monitoring of diabetes control.