A NEW METHOD OF QUANTITATING SERUM AND URINARY LEVELS OF 1,5-ANHYDROGLUCITOL IN INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

A new method was developed for quantitating the serum and urinary leve ls of 1,5-anhydroglucitol (AG), a sensitive and informative marker of glycemic control. This method utilized a combination of ODS and pyrano se oxidase-immobilized columns for HPLC, and monitored hydrogen peroxi de production with an electrochemical detector. We applied this method to determine the serum and urinary AG levels in 15 patients with insu lin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) as well as in control subjects. Baseline separation of AG from other sugars such as glucose and myoin ositol was achieved. Quantitation of AG was achieved over the range fr om 0.2 ng to 0.3 mu g based upon peak heights. The serum and urinary A G levels in the IDDM patients were 4.4 +/- 8.3 mg/l and 5.1 +/- 4.3 mg /day, respectively. We found that the urinary AG to serum AG ratio sho wed a linear correlation with the urinary glucose level in the IDDM pa tients (urinary glucose Oil vs, urinary AG to serum AG ratio (x): y = 9.071x - 0.991; r = 0.968, P < 0.001). This method proved efficient an d reliable for quantitating urinary AG. Since determination of both th e AG and glucose levels in urine gives equivalent clinical information to the serum AG level, urinary monitoring could provide a valuable ad dition to the available methods for assessing the glycemic status of I DDM patients.