Salivary glycated albumin could be as reliable a marker of glycemic control as blood glycated albumin in people with diabetes

Masakazu Aihara; Kouji Yano; Tomoko Irie; Mitsumi Nishi; Kenji Yachiku; Itsushi Minoura; Koshin Sekimizu; Yoshitaka Sakurai; Takashi Kadowaki; Toshimasa Yamauchi; Naoto Kubota

doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2024.111903

Salivary glycated albumin could be as reliable a marker of glycemic control as blood glycated albumin in people with diabetes

Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2024 Oct 22:218:111903. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2024.111903. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
² Provigate Inc., University of Tokyo Entrepreneur Plaza, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
³ Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan; Toranomon Hospital, 2-2-2 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8470, Japan.
⁴ Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan; Department of Metabolic Medicine, Faculty of Life Science, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. Electronic address: nkubota-tky@umin.ac.jp.

PMID: 39447680
DOI: 10.1016/j.diabres.2024.111903

Abstract

Aims: Measurements of diabetes-related biomarkers are necessary to assess glycemic control. The commonly used finger-prick blood glucose and HbA1c measurements are invasive, as is blood glycated albumin (GA) measurement. Therefore, we developed a non-invasive method, namely, measurement of the salivary GA with high accuracy using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method.

Methods: We recruited participants with diabetes mellitus admitted to The University of Tokyo Hospital. Blood and saliva samples were collected at three time points (fasting and 2-hour postprandial at admission and fasting at discharge). After partial purification using an antibody-based column, the samples were subjected to GA measurement by HPLC method.

Results: Among the 56 participants with diabetes mellitus enrolled in the study, there was a correlation between the GA levels measured in blood and saliva at the three time points described above (n = 45, R² = 0.985, P < 0.001; n = 48, R² = 0.973, P < 0.001; n = 51, R² = 0.979, P < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed the associations were maintained even after adjustments for age, BMI, and nephropathy stage.

Conclusions: This exploratory research revealed that the salivary GA levels by this method were accurate and might be able to replace blood GA measurement. The home salivary GA measurement is expected to be developed that may reduce the burden and complications in people with diabetes mellitus and improve the quality of life.