Evaluating the Clinical Utility of Glycated Albumin as an Index of Glycaemia in Nigerian Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Background: Glycated Albumin (GA) has emerged as an alternative glycaemic marker that is gaining attention globally. It provides a measure of short-to-medium term glycaemia (2-4 weeks) and is independent of red blood cell related disorders; in comparison to glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) which is widely used for monitoring glycaemic control. In Nigeria where anaemia and haemoglobinopathies are prevalent, GA could serve as a more reliable and cost-effective index of glycaemic control, and more so in resource-contrained settings. Objective: This study assessed serum GA concentration in 100 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and 120 healthy controls, and compared it with traditional glycaemic markers i.e HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study carried out among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients accessing care at a tertiary hospital in North-central Nigeria between November 2020 and October 2021. Serum GA was estimated using an Enzymatic method, while FPG and HbA1c estimation was by Hexokinase and TINIA methods respectively. Results: The study participants were 36% males, mean age of T2DM patients and control group was 57±10yrs and 48±10yrs respectively. GA showed a significant strong positive correlation with HbA1c in T2DM patients and a positive but weak correlation among the control group (rho = 0.785, p-value <0.001 and rho = 0.183, p-value = 0.069, respectively). GA also showed good diagnostic performance when compared to FPG and HbA1c with AUC of 0.762 (p<0.001) and 0.845 (p<0.001) respectively. Conclusion: GA as a glycaemic marker from the findings of this study is useful as a complimentary marker for monitoring and possible diagnostic tool for diabetes mellitus in the Nigerian setting.