Effect of Body Lotions on Capillary Blood Glucose Measurement – Interference of Hydroquinone-Containing Body Lotion with Capillary Glucose Measurement

The reliability of capillary blood glucose measurements is tremendously important for patients’ care and follow-up. Some factors independent of glucose control could however affect readings during ambulatory monitoring of capillary glucose levels in patients with diabetes mellitus. We sought to evaluate the impact of three body lotions commonly used in Cameroon on different strata of glycaemia. We explored their influence over time on measured capillary glucose values. We enrolled 16 participants. Eligible individuals were adult patients with diabetes (n=12) stratified into three levels of capillary glucose values (100 ± 40 mg/dL [5.55 ± 2.22 mmol/L], 200 ± 40 mg/dL [11.1 ± 2.22 mmol/L] and 300 ± 40 mg/dL [16.65 ± 2.22 mmol/L]) and normoglycaemic individuals (n=4). We measured capillary blood glucose before application, immediately after, then 5, 30 and 60 minutes after application of sweet almond oil, corticosteroid cream and hydroquinone lotion. The measurements made on impregnated body lotion-permeated fingers were compared to that of a clean finger. We observed a significant increase (delta [95% confidence interval, CI]: 119.5% [77.4–222.1]) of capillary glucose level immediately after administration of hydroquinone-containing body lotion (p<0.001). Capillary glucose values after the use of corticoid cream and sweet almond oil was stable 5, 30 and 60 minutes after application (p=0.875 and p=0.883 respectively). In the case of the hydroquinone-containing body lotion, there was a significant difference between capillary glucose level at 5 minutes (delta [95%CI]: 81.6% [55.3–214.2]; p<0.001), 30 minutes (delta [95%CI]: 71.6% [21.8–134.6]; p<0.001) and 60 minutes (delta [95%CI]: 58.3% [2.8–133.3]; p=0.013) after application compared to the value obtained from the clean finger. We observed from our study that there were significant variations in capillary blood glucose measurements induced by the use of hydroquinone lotion.