Background: A sustained increase in bodily glucose levels is associated with several chronic illnesses, such as diabetes. Currently, no single test is globally affordable, innocuous and predictable at measuring glucose levels. We tested earwax as a viable option to measure short and long-term glucose levels in comparison with Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c) in healthy individuals.
Methods: 37 participants provided standard glucose blood samples, HbA1c and earwax on two occasions, one month a part. The samples measured baseline fasting glucose, a follow-up postprandial glucose level and a between sample long term glucose concentration estimation calculated using the mean value at the two time points. The baseline earwax sample was extracted with a conventional procedure and the follow-up with earwax self-sampling device.
Results: The earwax extraction time using the self-sampling device was considerably faster than the conventional method. Earwax proved to be a reliable method to measure glucose concentrations at both time points with stronger correlations compared to HbA1c which ranged in the low to moderate spectrum. Earwax methods were approximately 60% more predictable than HbA1c in measuring chronic glucose levels. Follow-up postprandial concentrations were larger than their respective fasting baseline levels. Earwax showed to be unaffected by a range of confounders contrary to glycaemic and HbA1c samples.
Conclusion: Earwax measurements proved to be more predictable than HbA1c in measuring fasting, postprandial and long term glucose measurements and unaffected by confounders. Earwax may be a suitable method for measuring glucose concentration by using the earwax self-sampling device .