QuantiChrom™ Glucose Assay Kit From BioAssay Systems

Studying the glucose uptake might be of relevance to assess cellular metabolism and the processes that are dependent on the ATP produced by glucose oxidation. Glucose is used during glycolysis and as such, is a very important factor that can directly influence cell behavior. The measurement of glucose levels in various food products, blood or cell culture media is generally performed by clinical laboratories. However, one does not always have access to such a facility and more importantly, the range of concentration measured is not always suitable for laboratory experiments.

We are interested in glucose uptake under different experimental conditions and I had to find a fast, reliable and inexpensive method to measure the glucose levels in my culture media. Several methods are commercially available, including the glucose meter which is very similar to the apparatus used by diabetic patients to measure their glucose level using a single drop of blood. The QuantiChrom™ Glucose Assay Kit also requires a small amount of sample since only 5 µl of your media or serum are needed to obtain your glucose level in duplicate.

The procedure is very easy: you have to mix 5 µl of sample with 500 µl of the reagent provided in the kit and heat in a boiling water bath for 8 minutes. After cooling, 200 µl of the solution are transferred in duplicate to the wells of a clear bottom 96-well plate for analysis using a microplate reader at 620-650 nm. The signal is stable for up to 1 hour and the optimal wavelength to read the samples is 630 nm. This technique also applies to spectrophotometer; you just have to adjust the volumes. The kit and the standard provided allow for detection of glucose concentrations from 39 µM to 16.6 mM. If you have very high glucose concentrations, you can use your own glucose and set up higher standard controls to be in the range of your samples. The method is very reliable.

The only requirement for this technique is that you possess a microplate reader with the corresponding filter. Also, the reagent provided is an acidic compound that requires you to work under a chemical hood.

In conclusion, this kit is very easy to use. It is a rapid method: less than 30 min from beginning to end. The cost of the analysis is around $1 per sample and makes this kit one of the best when comparing handling/price/data quality.