Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease and the leading form of diabetes among young white people. 1,5-Anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG), a nontraditional biomarker of postprandial glycemic control (after 1 - 3 days to 2 weeks), may be useful in T1D screening. We studied serum 1,5-AG concentration as a potential biomarker for T1D screening and diagnosis in adults and children.
Methods: In this case-control study, adults (n = 121; age, 19 - 61 years) and children (n = 19; age, 8 - 14 years) with T1D were matched with healthy subjects (n = 242) according to gender and age. Serum 1,5-AG levels were measured enzymatically (GlycoMark Inc., NY, USA).
Results: Patients showed no symptoms of overt kidney disease, assessed by serum creatinine concentrations. The median (25th - 75th percentile) 1,5-AG concentrations for the control group compared with the T1D group were 155 (128 - 183) vs. 21 (14 - 34) µmol/L in adults and 190 (158 - 237) vs. 20 (12 - 30) µmol/L in children (p < 0.001 for both). Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that 1,5-AG cutoffs of ≤ 113 and ≤ 79 µmol/L for adult men and women, respectively, and ≤ 57 µmol/L for children of both genders had > 95% sensitivity and specificity for both groups.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that serum 1,5-AG concentration may be useful as an adjunct measure of hyperglycemia for diagnosing T1D and has the potential to screen for T1D in high-risk subjects.