Glycated Albumin Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Increase Relative to HbA1cwith Time

We recently reported that glycated albumin (GA) is increased in subjects with longer duration of diabetes and with decreased insulin secretory function. Based on this, we investigated whether GA increases with time relative to glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and the association between GA and beta-cell function. We analyzed 340 type 2 diabetes patients whose serum GA and HbA1c levels had been repeatedly measured over 4 years. We assessed the pattern of changes with time in glycemic indices (GA,HbA1c, and GA/HbA1cratio) and their relationship with beta-cell function. In all patients, glycemic indices decreased and maintained low levels around 15 and 27 months. However, from 39 months to 51 months, GA significantly increased butHbA1ctended to increase without statistical significance. We defined ΔGA/HbA1cas the difference between the nadir point (at 15 to 27 months) and the end point (at 39 to 51 months) and found that ΔGA/HbA1cwas positively correlated with diabetes duration and negatively related to beta-cell function. In multivariable linear regression analyses, ΔGA/HbA1cwas independently associated with diabetes duration. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that serum GA levels increase relative toHbA1clevels with time.