title: Utility of glycated albumin for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in a Japanese population study: results from the Kyushu and Okinawa Population Study (KOPS).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Glycated albumin is a measure of the mean plasma glucose concentration over approximately 2-3 weeks. We determined reference values for glycated albumin, and assessed its utility for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 1,575 men and women (mean age, 49.9 years; range, 26-78 years) who participated in a periodic health examination in a suburban Japanese town. HbA(1c) and fasting plasma concentrations of glucose (FPG) and glycated albumin were measured. Participants with FPG ≥ 7.0 mmol/l or HbA(1c) ≥ 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) were diagnosed as having diabetes. In our laboratory, the glycated albumin assay had intra-assay and inter-assay CVs of 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Glycated albumin levels were significantly correlated with HbA(1c) levels (r = 0.766, p < 0.001) and FPG (r = 0.706, p < 0.001). The presence of diabetes was significantly higher in participants with glycated albumin levels between 15.0% and 15.9% (five of 276, 1.81%) than in those with glycated albumin <14% (three of 672, 0.45%) (p = 0.037), and was markedly increased in those with a glycated albumin level >16% (58 of 207, 28.0%). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that a glycated albumin level of ≥15.5% was optimal for predicting diabetes, with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 83.3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is merit to further investigating the potential for glycated albumin to be used as an alternative measure of dysglycaemia for future research and clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, 3-1-1, Maidashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. furusyo@gim.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Furusyo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Otokozawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kohzuma
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikezaki
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000093423:Glycated Serum Albumin
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced; D012709:Serum Albumin; D000093423:Glycated Serum Albumin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human