A COMPARISON OF AUTOMATED FRUCTOSAMINE AND HBA(1C) METHODS FOR MONITORING DIABETES IN PREGNANCY

Two automated methods for measuring fructosamine (Test Plus and the or iginal fructosamine assay) and glycated haemoglobin (Tina-quant immuno assay) were compared to determine which is the best index of blood glu cose control during pregnancy. Thirteen women with type 1 diabetes wer e studied, with four-weekly measurements of HbA(1c) and fructosamine T est Plus using a Hitachi 911 analyser and fructosamine measured using an Olympus AU800 analyser. HbA(1c) correlated better (r=0.573) with me an blood glucose (MBG) concentration than did fructosamine Test Plus ( r=0.347), even after correction for total protein concentration (r=0.4 63), while there was no significant correlation with the original fruc tosamine method (r=0.201). HbA(1c) correlated better with fasting/pre- prandial MBG concentrations, whereas fructosamine Test Plus correlated better with post-prandial MBG concentrations. Fructosamine Test Plus decreased with gestational age, and correlated with albumin and total protein concentrations, whereas HbA(1c) did not change with gestationa l age. Thus, HbA(1c) and fructosamine Test Plus were found to be usefu l in verifying home blood glucose measurements in diabetic pregnancy, with HbA(1c) being the best predictor of MBG concentration.