The usefulness of HbA1c measurement in diabetic mouse models using various devices

In most cases, the diagnosis of diabetes in animal models is based solely on blood glucose levels. While hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is widely used in the diagnosis of diabetes in humans, it is rarely measured in mice in diabetes research. This is thought to be because there are no established reference values for mouse HbA1c, as well as the fact that there are very few reports on the variability and reproducibility of measurements taken using different devices. In this study, we measured HbA1c levels in diabetic mouse models using different devices based on different principles, including capillary electrophoresis, high-performance liquid chromatography, and enzymatic methods, and compared the results. A positive correlation was observed between blood glucose and HbA1c levels in all measurement methods, and high reproducibility was confirmed in the measurement of HbA1c. However, HbA1c levels measured using the enzymatic method were slightly higher than those measured using the other two methods. In addition, an examination of diabetic mice given a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor, which is used to treat diabetes, revealed that there was a 2-week difference in the fluctuation of mouse HbA1c levels compared with the fluctuation of blood glucose levels. Based on these results, it is thought that HbA1c can be a reliable indicator in diabetic mouse models, and it is expected to make the evaluation of abnormal glucose metabolism in mice more reliable.