Glycated HbA1c: A Potential Biomarker for Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and its Correlation with Dyslipidemia

Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c) is currently one of the best, widely used and accepted test for monitoring the glycemic control in diabetic patients for about 3 decades i.e. it estimates average blood glucose levels of previous 8-12 weeks. Despite the progress made in the development of anti-diabetic agents, the ability to maintain tight glycemic control still remains a challenge. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of HbA1c in predicting dyslipidemia in type 2-diabetic patients. Fifty type-2 diabetic patients were included in the present study. Estimation of HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and lipid profile was done. Further diabetic patients were classified in 2 groups based on their glycemic index: group 1 consisted of patients with HbA1c >= 7.0% and group 2 consisted of patients with HbA1c <= 7.0%. A positive correlation was found between HbA1c and lipid parameters but a negative correlation was found between HbA1c and HDL. The patients with HbA1c >= 7.0% (diabetic dyslipidemia) had significantly increased level of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, increased fasting blood glucose but significantly decreased HDL-cholesterol as compared to the patients with good glycemic control (diabetic group1). The mean HbA1c value in diabetic dyslipidemia was 9.54 +/- 1.85 which was extremely higher than diabetic group having mean HbA1c 5.49 +/- 0.68. The mean triglycerides of diabetic dyslipidemia patients was 191.41 +/- 72.73 and group 2 had mean TG of 123.86 +/- 35.08. The mean total cholesterol of group 1 was 201.88 +/- 48.25 which was again higher than group 2 with a mean total cholesterol of 169.5 +/- 37.62. But the mean value of HDL-cholesterol in diabetic dyslipidemic group 1 was lower i.e. 38.65 +/- 7.05 than group 2 diabetic patients with a mean HbA1c of 44.53 +/- 4.22. Hence in diabetic dyslipidemia HDL showed a negative correlation with HbA1c. The mean FBG in group 1 diabetic dyslipidemic was higher i. e. 200.25 +/- 72.34 and group 2 diabetic patients had mean FBG of 114 +/- 18.53. The findings suggest that type 2-diabetic patients with dyslipidemia are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The association between HbA1c with various lipid parameters suggested the importance of glycemic control in order to prevent the future risk of dyslipidemia in type-2 diabetic patients. Thus in a nut shell, the diabetes associated dyslipidemia lead to conclusion that good glycemic control would be useful to prevent the possibilities of the development of diabetic dyslipidemia and various other complications related to diabetes.