C-Peptide Test Price in Pakistan: Rs 2,660 at Marham Lab

A C-peptide test measures how much insulin your own pancreas is making. MedlinePlus explains that C-peptide is a chain of amino acids your pancreas makes in the process of making insulin, and that insulin is the hormone which helps blood glucose get into your cells to be used for energy. At Marham Lab a C-peptide test costs Rs 2,660, reduced from Rs 3,800.

This is the point of the whole test, and it is worth understanding before you book.

MedlinePlus explains that C-peptide and insulin enter your bloodstream at the same time and in equal amounts though C-peptide stays in your blood longer. It then adds the part that matters most for anyone on treatment: C-peptide is unaffected by outside sources of insulin such as the medicines involved in diabetes treatment. In other words, C-peptide can give an accurate picture of how much insulin your body is making naturally.

Because of this, MedlinePlus notes that providers may rely on a C-peptide test to measure insulin levels rather than testing insulin levels directly.

So if you are already injecting insulin, an insulin test cannot tell your own production apart from the injection. A C-peptide test can.

Stating this plainly, because people book it expecting a diabetes test.

MedlinePlus is explicit: a C-peptide test is not used to diagnose diabetes. It states that other tests, such as blood glucose and urine glucose, are used to screen for and diagnose diabetes.

If nobody has told you whether you have diabetes yet, start with [blood sugar](/labs/tests/blood-sugar-test-price) and [HbA1c](/labs/tests/hba1c-test-price). C-peptide comes later, and for narrower reasons.

MedlinePlus lists four uses.

• Finding the cause of hypoglycaemia, meaning low blood glucose, since some types are linked to high insulin levels. Causes it names include liver or kidney disease, malnutrition, drinking too much alcohol without eating, an uncommon tumour in the pancreas, and side effects from certain diabetes medicines including insulin
• Managing diabetes treatment, where treatment decisions may depend on knowing how much insulin your pancreas is making, and where C-peptide gives an accurate measurement even if you take insulin
• Monitoring treatment for an insulinoma, an uncommon pancreatic tumour that makes too much insulin and causes low blood glucose, which MedlinePlus notes is almost always benign and can usually be removed with surgery
• Telling type 1 from type 2 diabetes when the diagnosis is uncertain. MedlinePlus notes a provider can usually diagnose the type without this test though in certain cases may need it

That last use is the one that brings most people here. If your type has been genuinely unclear, or if a type 2 diagnosis has not behaved like type 2, this test is part of how that gets settled.

MedlinePlus states the meaning depends on your age, health, the medicines you take and the results of other tests such as a blood glucose test. In general:

A high level usually means your body is making too much insulin. MedlinePlus lists type 2 diabetes, Cushing's syndrome, insulinoma, kidney failure, and a low level of potassium in your blood.

A low level may mean your body is not making enough insulin. MedlinePlus lists type 1 diabetes and in some cases type 2, taking too much insulin to treat diabetes which may block your pancreas from making insulin on its own, a severe infection, Addison disease, and liver disease.

If you have been treated for an insulin-producing pancreatic tumour, MedlinePlus notes a decrease in C-peptide means treatment is working and an increase may mean the tumour is back.

Fasting is usually needed. MedlinePlus states that for a C-peptide blood test you may need to fast for 8 to 12 hours beforehand. It also notes your provider may want to test C-peptide after you have eaten, so they can see your levels when your pancreas is actively working.

So ask before you fast, because the instruction depends on what your doctor wants to see. Tell the lab which one you were told.

MedlinePlus notes the test can also be done on all urine collected over a 24 hour period, in which case you will be given a container and instructions. The blood test is the common form.