CLINICAL CHEMISTRY

Describes the analytical monitoring of chemical

parameters resulting from physiological or biochemical
processes in the body
Laboratory testing for many of the chemical substances
found in the body
Importance of knowing the amount of various chemical
substances in the body:
1. Helps the physician assess the function of certain organs
2. Helps the physician gain a better understanding of the
patients overall health status
Common Chemistry Panel Tests:
1. Blood Glucose (main source of energy of the body)
a. Measures the amount of sugar called glucose in the
blood
b. Comes from carbohydrate foods
c. Main source of energy used by the body
d. Why it is done
i. Check for diabetes
ii. Monitor treatment of diabetes
iii. Check for diabetes during pregnancy
(gestational pregnancy)
Different Types of Blood Glucose Tests:
1. Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS)
a. Measures blood glucose after not eating for at
least 8 hours
b. Often the first done to check for prediabetes and
diabetes
2. 2 Hour Postprandial Blood Sugar (PPBS)
a. measures blood glucose exactly 2 hours after
eating a meal
b. screen patients for diabetes and to monitor
insulin therapy of diabetic patients
3. Random blood Sugar (RBS)
a. Measures blood glucose regardless of when you
last ate
b. Also called a casual blood glucose test
4. Oral Glucose Tolerance test
a. Used to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes
b. A series of blood glucose measurements taken
after drinking a sweet liquid that contains
glucose

c. Commonly used to diagnose diabetes that occurs

during pregnancy
d. Not commonly used to diagnose diabetes in a
person who is not pregnant
i. Normal Value: 70 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L)
5. Hemoglobin A1C test
a. Preferred test for monitoring patients already
known to have diabetes
Test for Lipids and Lipoproteins
1. Cholesterol
2. Lipids ( free fatty acids )
3. Lipoproteins (substances made up of lipids & proteins)
Cholesterol
Importance of Cholesterol:
o Helps form bile acids that are produced in the liver
and stored in the gallbladder
o Vitamin D is formed from cholesterol at the skins
surface during exposure to sunlight
o Various hormones, such as cortisol, testosterone,
and estrogen are synthesized from cholesterol.
o High Cholesterol levels are strong indicators of
those individual that are prone to coronary heart
disease
o The American Heart Association recommends that
the cholesterol level in the blood less than 200
mg/dL.
o Above 200 mg/DL is considered to be at an
increased risk for developing atherosclerosis
( involves the buildup of fatty plaque on the interior
lining of arteries, causing the arteries to narrow and
harden.
LDL
o Bad cholesterol
o High Levels of LDL
The risk of heart disease increase
o Normal Levels of LDL
Less than 100 mg/dL
Levels above 129 mg/dL borderline
Above 159 mg/dL can be dangerously high
High Density Lipoprotein (HDL)
o Good Cholesterol
o Normal Value
Men: 40-50 mg/dL
Female: 50 60 mg/dL

o Higher levels of HDL lower the incidence of heart

disease
o Lower levels of HDL The great the patients risks
for heart disease
Triglycerides
o Store energy
o High Triglyceride levels
Risk factor in heart disease
o Normal Value
Male: 40 160 mg/dL
Female: 35 135 mg/dL

Blood Urea Nitrogen

o This test measures the amount of nitrogen in the
blood that comes from the waste product UREA.
o The test is done to:
See if your kidneys are working normally
See if your kidney disease is getting worse
See if treatment of your kidney disease is
working
See if severe dehydration is present
Normal Value 10 20 mg/dL
o BUN is low during the 2nd or 3rd trimester of
pregnancy