Comparison of Two Methods for Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Measurement

Abstract:

The level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the blood is a standard measure of the long-term glycemic status of the human body. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the standard reference method for HbA1c measurement as designated by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). Gel-capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) with a stable pH gradient of 20 mmol/L NaOH (catholyte solution) and 20 mmol/L sulfuric acid (anolyte solution) and gels containing ampholytes have outstanding separation power. In this study, HPLC has been compared to gel-cIEF for the measurement of HbA1c. HPLC and gel-cIEF were used to measure the HbA1c values of 46 randomly selected blood samples. Correlation analysis revealed that the two methods showed a good correlation. The HPLC method was prone to interference by hemoglobin variants and exhibited low specificity. The gel-cIEF method was not affected by hemoglobin variants and showed high specificity. In conclusion, gel-cIEF can be used as an alternative method to HPLC for the standard detection of glycated hemoglobin.