Usefulness of Glycated Albumin for Diabetes Screening

Abstract

Background In recent years, the measurement of glycated albumin (GA) , a glycation product of albumin, h as been used widely in clinical practice in Japan . Since the half-life of albumin is shorter than that of Hb and its rate of glycation is 10 times faster , GA is a more sensitive indicator than HbA lc in evaluating therapeutic effects. An easy-to-use reagent has been developed to measure GA using biochemical analyz ers. Thus, the measurement of GA, conducted in the same panel such as total cholesterol for health examinations, is expected to improve efficiency and reduce costs in primary screening for diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods We measured the serum GA value in 970 subjects receiving comprehensive health examinations to determine the optimal cut-off value of GA for diabetes screening . We also investigated the correlation among GA, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) , and 2h or peak values of the 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The subjects were divided into four groups, i.e., DM group, impaired fasting glycemia (IFG) group, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) group, and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) group. Results The cut-off value for GA was determined to be 14.5%, at which detection sensitivity for DM was 78.5% and non-DM specificity was 69 .3%. DM and IGT detection sensitivity of GA were similar to those of HbAic. Conclusion We would like to recommend GA for the detection of diabetes together with blood glucose determination. (Ningen Dock 2007 ; 21 : 11 — 13)