Level of glycation gap in a healthy subject

Introduction. The discordance between glycated hemoglobin (HbA 1C ) and fructosamine (FA) estimations in the assessment of glycemia is often encountered. A number of mechanisms might explain such discordance, but whether or not they are consistent is uncertain. Nevertheless, the fact that there is a discrepancy in HbA 1C and mean blood glucose cannot be ignored in the monitoring of glycemic control. To address the discrepancy between HbA 1C and mean blood glucose, Robert Cohen proposed the measurement of glycation gap (GG). Recently, the 'Glycation Gap' (GG) has been dened as the dierence between the measured HbA 1C. GG has improved the quality of the monitoring of glycemic control, especially for those patients whose HbA 1C levels do not truly reect the mean blood glucose levels. Objective: The aims of the statistical analyses were to estimate GG values in a healthy subject. The research was conducted among the inhabitants of the Zwierzyniec commune and nearby villages. Material and methods: The study population consisted of 93 subjects: 63 women and 30 men, between the ages of 18-79. Measurements of HbA 1C and FA in the 93 people were used to calculate GG, dened as the dierence between measured HbA 1C and HbA 1C predicted from FA, based on the population regression of HbA 1C on FA. Conclusions: In considering the values GG in the study group, particular signicance should be attributed to a progressive increase of GG with advancing age. Elderly people who are at risk of developing diabetes, or who have already developed the disease, may not exhibit the classic symptoms expected. Age-related changes can mean that some symptoms will be masked, or more dicult to spot. It is worth pointing out that HbA 1C together with GG must be taken into account in the correct interpretation of the glycation processes.