Glycation of fibrinogen in uncontrolled diabetic patients and the effects of glycaemic control on fibrinogen glycation

IntroductionEvidence exists for a relationship between glycaemic control and macrovascular disease. Non-enzymatic glycation of proteins may explain this relationship in part. We investigated the effect of blood glucose control, under out-patient conditions, on fibrinogen glycation as well as the relationship between glycated fibrinogen and glycaemic control using a new sensitive method for the measurement of glycated fibrinogen.Materials and methodsBlood samples were taken from twenty subjects with uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes (HbA1c > 7%) to determine the levels of glycation. The subjects were then treated with insulin in order to control blood glucose. Twenty age and BMI matched non-diabetic subjects were included as a reference group.ResultsThe subjects with diabetes had significantly higher mean fibrinogen glycation at baseline than the non-diabetic subjects (7.84 vs 3.89 mol glucose / mol fibrinogen; p < 0.001). After control of blood glucose, fibrinogen glycation was reduced significantly in the subjects with diabetes (7.84 to 5.24 mol glucose / mol fibrinogen; p < 0.0002). The change in glycation during the intervention correlated significantly with the change in capillary glucose in the diabetic group (r = 0.6, p = 0.005). Fibrinogen glycation was comparable to HbA1c in predicting glycaemic control (p = 0.54). Fibrinogen glycation correlated best with the average fasting capillary glucose of the preceding 5–8 days (r = 0.54, p = 0.014).ConclusionWe conclude that glucose control under out-patient conditions decreases fibrinogen glycation in subjects with Type 2 diabetes and that glycated fibrinogen compares well with HbA1c in its relation to glycaemic control.