title: HbA1c as a postmortem tool to identify glycemic control.
abstract: Estimates suggest that more than 5A million U.S. citizens unknowingly have diabetes and are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality. We evaluated an immunoturbidimetric measurement of glycated hemoglobin (%HbA1c) as a postmortem tool to identify such individuals. Although postmortem samples undergo some degradation, the effects are not sufficient to invalidate the use of the test or method. Using two study populations whose medical history of diabetes was known, we found the mean %HbA1c of the non-diabetics (5.8+/-0.3) to be statistically different from that of the diabetics (12.4+/-2.8). For the population whose disease status was unknown, the %HbA1c ranged from 4.7 to 16.8. For six unknowns whose values exceeded 7.0%. the mean was 11.7%, which did not differ statistically from the diabetic mean (p = 0.6615). These studies suggest that postmortem blood samples can be used to characterize HbA1c values.
authors.affiliation: North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, University of North Caolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7580, USA. winecker@ocme.unc.edu
authors.forename: Ruth E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Winecker
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hammett-Stabler
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Jeri D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ropero-Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009391:Nephelometry and Turbidimetry; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin