Ann Pediatr Endocrinol Metab.  2023 Dec;28(4):289-295. 10.6065/apem.2244202.101.

Usefulness of glycated albumin level as a glycemic index complementing glycosylated hemoglobin in diabetic children and adolescents

• Choi YJ
• Lee NY
• Ahn MB
• Kim SH
• Cho WK
• Cho KS
• Jung MH
• Suh BK

• KMID: 2549322
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.6065/apem.2244202.101

Abstract

Purpose
Glycated albumin (GA) is a glycemic marker reflecting the average serum glucose of the previous 2 weeks. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of GA as a glycemic index to complement glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in children and adolescents.
Methods
Fifty-four children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus (DM) and 97 children and adolescents without DM (NDM) were enrolled. The correlation between mean blood glucose (MG) and GA compared to HbA1c was investigated in the DM group. The correlation between fasting glucose (FG) and GA compared to HbA1c was investigated in the NDM group. Factors affecting GA, HbA1c, and GA/HbA1c were analyzed.
Results
In the DM group, positive correlations were observed between MG and GA (P=0.003), between MG and HbA1c (P=0.001), and between GA and HbA1c (P<0.001). The correlation coefficient between MG and GA did not differ from that between MG and HbA1c in the DM group (P=0.811). Among patients with DM, those whose standardized body mass index standard deviation score (BMI SDS) was ≥2 had a lower GA/HbA1c compared with those whose BMI SDS was <2 (P=0.001). In the NDM group, there were no significant correlations between FG and GA, between FG and HbA1c, or between GA and HbA1c. The NDM subjects whose BMI SDS was ≥2 had a lower GA/HbA1c than did the NDM subjects whose BMI SDS was <2 (P=0.003).
Conclusion
GA is comparable with HbA1c in reflecting glycemic control in children and adolescents with DM. GA is affected by obesity in children and adolescents with or without DM.

Keyword

Glycated albumin; Glycosylated hemoglobin; Diabetes mellitus

Figure

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  Fig. 1. The correlations between glycemic biomarkers in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM; A) and non-DM (B) subjects. GA, glycated albumin; HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin

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  Fig. 2. The correlations between BMI SDS and HbA1c, GA, and GA/HbA1c ratio in patients with diabetes mellitus (A; DM) and non-DM (B) subjects. HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin; GA, glycated albumin; BMI, body mass index; SDS, standard deviation score.

Reference

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