Blood sugar level given in terms of whole blood, but most laboratories now measure and report plasma or serum glucose levels. Because red blood cells (erythrocytes) have a higher concentration of protein (e.g., hemoglobin) than serum, serum has a higher water content and consequently more dissolved glucose than does whole blood. To convert from whole-blood glucose, multiplication by 1.14 has been shown to generally give the serum/plasma level To prevent contamination of the sample with intravenous fluids, particular care should be given to drawing blood samples from the arm opposite the one in which an intravenous line is inserted. Alternatively, blood can be
Secretory component Secretory component The secretory component is a component of immunoglobulin A (IgA). Secretory component is a proteolytic cleavage product of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor which remains associated with dimeric IgA in sero-mucus secretions. Polymeric IgA binds to the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor on the basolateral surface of epithelial cells and is taken up into the cell via transcytosis. The receptor-IgA complex passes through the cellular compartments before being secreted on the luminal surface of the epithelial cells, still attached to the receptor. Proteolysis of the receptor occurs and the dimeric IgA molecule, along with the secretory component, are free to diffuse