title: Glycated albumin is a useful glycation index for monitoring fluctuating and poorly controlled type 2 diabetic patients.
abstract: Glycated albumin (GA) is recognized as a reliable marker for short-term glycemic monitoring in diabetic patients. We investigated the clinical relevance of GA and the ratio of GA to glycated hemoglobin (A1c) in Korean type 2 diabetic patients. In this retrospective study, we compared A1c, GA, and the GA/A1c ratio and analyzed the relationship between glycemic indices and various parameters in 1,038 Korean type 2 diabetic patients. The patients were divided into two groups: a stably maintained A1c group whose A1c levels did not fluctuate by more than 0.5% for at least 6 months and an unstably maintained A1c group whose A1c levels fluctuated by more than 0.5%. Serum GA was strongly correlated with A1c in both groups. Fasting plasma glucose and postprandial glucose were correlated with GA in unstably maintained A1c group, whereas they were correlated with A1c in stably maintained A1c group. The GA/A1c ratio tended to increase as A1c increased. Postprandial glucose and body mass index affected the GA/A1c ratio. Our data show that serum GA may be a more useful glycation index than A1c for monitoring glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients with fluctuating and poorly controlled glycemic excursions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung-Wan
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Daham
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong-ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwang Joon
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun Seok
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Bong-Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Eun Jig
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyun Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D006031:Glycosylation; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000093423:Glycated Serum Albumin
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced; D012709:Serum Albumin; D000093423:Glycated Serum Albumin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human