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Association of erythrocyte indices with glycated haemoglobin in pre‐menopausal women
Author(s) -
Koga M.,
Morita S.,
Saito H.,
Mukai M.,
Kasayama S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2007.02161.x
Subject(s) - medicine , mean corpuscular volume , menopause , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , glycated haemoglobin , red blood cell , physiology , hematocrit , type 2 diabetes
Aims Although HbA 1c is known to be affected by the lifespan of erythrocytes, any association of erythrocyte indices with HbA 1c in subjects without anaemia is poorly understood. Pre‐menopausal women may be relatively iron deficient because of menstruation. In this study, we examined the relationship between HbA 1c and erythrocyte indices in pre‐ and post‐menopausal women. Methods We determined HbA 1c , red blood cell (RBC) count, haematocrit, haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) in 423 women with normal glucose tolerance who had undergone health checks. In addition, age at menopause was recorded in post‐menopausal subjects. Results RBC counts of the 180 pre‐menopausal women were positively associated with HbA 1c , whereas haemoglobin, MCV and MCH showed a negative association. In contrast, no significant association of any indices with HbA 1c was detected in the 243 post‐menopausal women. Stepwise multivariate regression analysis in the pre‐menopausal women identified fasting plasma glucose and age as positively associated and MCH as negatively associated with HbA 1c , regardless of whether or not these pre‐menopausal women were anaemic. Conclusions Erythrocyte indices are associated with HbA 1c , independently of plasma glucose levels, in pre‐menopausal women even when they are not anaemic. This should be appreciated when interpreting HbA 1c in pre‐menopausal patients with diabetes.