A comparative study of the glycosylated plasma proteins in diabetic Nigerians

The levels of glycosylated plasma proteins and haemoglobin in some Nigerian diabetic patients in Lagos metropolis have been investigated by the thiobarbaturic acid (TBA) assay technique. The mean values of the glycosylated plasma proteins: 40.8 +/- 5.89 umol/L fructose equivalent and glycosylated haemoglobin, 105.0 +/- 20.81 umol/L fructose equivalent were approximately twice that found in the controls, 23.5 +/- 3.00 and 64.7 +/- 5.87 umol/L fructose equivalent respectively. The glycosylated haemoglobin values were considerably higher in both diabetics and control than the corresponding glycosylated plasma proteins. Glycosylated plasma proteins had a high positive correlation with both plasma glucose level and glycosylated haemoglobin. These findings suggest that determination of glycosylated plasma proteins (GPP) could be employed to assess diabetic control given the shorter half-life of the plasma proteins. The GPP values are probably good indicators of integrated short-term glycaemia.