DIABETES

COMPARISON OF HBA1C AND SERUM GLYCATED ALBUMIN LEVELS AS MONITORING TOOL

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes is one of the most common non-communicable diseases
globally. Number of methods has been proposed for early detection and monitoring of diabetes.
Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is one of the indices used for long-term hyperglycemic control.
Recently another method used for evaluation of hyperglycemia is measurement of glycated
albumin (GA). The purpose of this study was to compare HbA1c and serum GA levels in diabetic
patients in Peshawar. Settings: Study Design: Prospective cross sectional study. Period: July
to August 2014. Setting: Teaching Hospitals of Peshawar Medical College (Mercy and Kuwait
Teaching Hospitals). Material and Methods: This study consisted of whole blood samples of
47 diabetic individuals. GA estimation was done by Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay
(ELISA) whereas HbA1c estimation was performed by Fast Ion-exchange Resin Separation
Method. Results: The mean age of diabetics was 55 ± 10.3 years. According to HbA1c levels,
25.5% subjects had good glycemic control and 74.5% subjects had poor glycemic control.
While the GA estimation showed 42.6% patients having glycemic levels within normal range
and 57.4% subjects had uncontrolled glycemia. Conclusions: According to this study, GA is a
marker of medium term glycemic control which can be considered to include in routine workup
of diabetes mellitus management.