Negative association of obesity and its related chronic inflammation with serum glycated albumin but not glycated hemoglobin levels

Background: Measurements of glycated albumin (GA) as well as glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) have been applied in order to monitor chronic glycemic control in diabetic patients. Both glycated proteins are known influenced by various factors other than glycemia. It has recently been reported that GA level is low in obese, non-diabetic children and is negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) in adult diabetic patients. However, the reasons for the connection between obesity and GA remain unknown. The aim of this study was to examine whether BMI and the obesity-related inflammatory marker plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are independently associated with GA and HbA1c. Methods: Two hundred and twelve non-diabetic subjects (158 with normal glucose tolerance and 54 with impaired glucose tolerance) were enrolled in this study. The effects of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) 2-h glucose, age, BMI and hs-CRP on HbA1c as well as those on GA were analyzed. Results: FPG significantly correlated with HbA1c, and also significantly but weakly correlated with GA. BMI showed a significantly positive correlation with HbA1c, whereas it negatively correlated with GA. Plasma hs-CRP showed a weak positive correlation with HbA1c, whereas it was negatively associated with GA. By stepwise multivariate regression analyses, BMI and hs-CRP were negatively associated with GA but not with HbA1c. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that BMI as well as hs-CRP were independent negative risks of GA but not of HbA I c in non-diabetic subjects. Obesity and its related chronic inflammation are involved in lower serum GA levels, but not HbA1c levels, in relation to glycemia. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.