Plasma albumin concentration is a predictor of HbA1c among type 2 diabetic patients, independently of fasting plasma glucose and fructosamine.

The importance of the HbA1c assay for evaluation of long-term glucose control is well established (1–3). However, data for HbA1c and average plasma glucose, in spite of their strong correlation (4 –7), show considerable scatter: for a given HbA1c level, average blood glucose generally varies by 5 mmol/l (7). This hampers interpretation of the HbA1c values of individual patients. In this study of a large sample of type 2 diabetic patients, we investigated the possibility of statistical association between HbA1c concentration and levels of the main glycatable circulating proteins other than hemoglobin (albumin and globulins).