Comparative Assessment of Serum versus Menstrual Blood for Diagnostic Purposes: A Pilot Study
Naseri S, Lerma K, Blumenthal PDJournal of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine · 2019DOI 10.16966/2572-9578.130
In plain language
The first question, asked before the Q-Pad existed: does menstrual blood carry the same biomarkers as serum? In 20 analysable paired samples, eight of nine markers correlated between menstrual and venous blood: cholesterol, creatinine, FSH, HbA1c, HDL, hsCRP, LDL and triglycerides. Glucose was the exception, which is why every analyte is validated on its own.
Key numbers
- 20
- Paired menstrual and venous samples
- 8 of 9
- Biomarkers that correlated with serum
- Glucose
- The exception, higher in venous blood
What it means
Most familiar lab markers tracked serum, which justified building a collection device. Glucose did not, which set the rule Qvin still follows: every analyte is validated on its own.
What it does not show
Twenty healthy women, menstrual cup collection pipetted onto blood spot cards (not the Q-Pad); several analytes that correlated still had different average levels than serum, so it shows feasibility, not interchangeable results.
How to cite
Naseri S, Lerma K, Blumenthal PD. Comparative Assessment of Serum versus Menstrual Blood for Diagnostic Purposes: A Pilot Study. Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine. 2019;4(2). doi:10.16966/2572-9578.130