Determination of glycohemoglobins by a rapid batch separation

Glycohemoglobin, a minor component of hemoglobin, reaches elevated levels in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. Because of the long-term effects of glycosylated hemoglobin, its determination in blood can prove to be an effective clinical tool in the management of the diabetic patient. This paper will describe a new batch ion exchange method for the determination of glycohemoglobins that precludes the necessity for specialized equipment. Eighty-four ambulatory subjects having no indication of diabetes mellitus and 32 diabetic patients receiving insulin therapy were assayed for blood glycohemoglobin content by the rapid batch method. The effectiveness and reliability of this method were tested by correlating parallel assays of the method with commercially available column methods. The diagnostic usefulness of the rapid batch method was determined by its predictive value. Results from this study support the validity of the rapid batch method.