IMPROVED METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF GLYCATED HEMOGLOBIN BY ION-EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY

The Pharmacia Mono S column for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was compa red with Mono S HR 5/5 and three other cation exchange columns to opti mize analysis of HbA1c. This column allows a significant decrease in s eparation time, resulting in a sample throughput of 12 samples per hou r. The choice of parameters for integration of peak areas in the chrom atograms is very important for reproducible results. Since pure calibr ators of HbA1c are not available, the relative contribution of HbA1c t o the total amount of haemoglobin is calculated. We have compared vall ey-to-valley integration with baseline integration to assess reproduci bility. Valley-to-valley integration significantly enhances the reprod ucibility of the method and is therefore preferable for routine analys es of HbA1c.