The Correlation Between Glycation Gap and Renal Complications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2024 Jan 23:17:333-341. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S439800. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations between the glycation gap (GG) and renal complications such as urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 104 individuals (52 males and 52 females), aged 36-93 years old. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c, and serum fructosamine were measured simultaneously. GG was calculated as the difference between the measured and fructosamine-based predicted HbA1c levels (FHbA1c).

Results: There was a moderately positive correlation between HbA1c and fructosamine concentration (r = 0.488; p < 0.001). GG was positively correlated with UACR (r = 0.3275; p = 0.0007), negatively correlated with eGFR (r = -0.3400; p = 0.0004). HbA1c was positively correlated with UACR (r = 0.2437; p = 0.0127) but not correlated with eGFR (r = -0.444; p = 0.6542). Fructosamine has a positive correlation with eGFR (r = 0.2426; p = 0.0131) but not with UACR (r = -0.1021; p = 0.3025).

Conclusion: GG was positively correlated with UACR and inversely correlated with eGFR in type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients. This suggests that GG is a valuable index for predicting kidney complications due to diabetes.

Keywords: HbA1c; fructosamine; glomerular filtration rate; glycated gap; type 2 diabetes; urinary albumin-creatinine ratio.