Fructosamine in serum
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The reference values (norm) of fructosamine concentration in blood serum are 200-280 μmol / l.
Fructosamine is a product of glycosylation of blood plasma proteins. Glucose enters into a non-enzymatic interaction with proteins, forming Schiff bases. Non-enzymatic glycosylation of proteins is a two-step process of condensation of glucose and other groups of carbohydrates with free amino groups of proteins. In the first stage, as a result of the interaction of glucose with amino groups, aldimine is formed, in the second stage of the reaction the labile aldimine is converted to stable ketoamine. This stage is irreversible.
The degree of glycosylation of plasma proteins depends on the concentration of glucose in the blood and the duration of the half-life of proteins. The amount of fructosamine in the blood is a good indicator for retrospective control of blood glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus, allows to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment without an aggravating patient daily monitoring of the level of glycemia.
In contrast to HbA 1 c, fructosamine concentration reflects an average of blood glucose for 2-3 weeks prior to measurement. This is due to the half-life of glycosylated proteins: for albumin it is 20 days, whereas for hemoglobin it depends on the half-life of erythrocytes (60 days). Determination of fructosamine has the advantage over determining HbA 1 c, because they do not require further study - determining the concentration of hemoglobin in the patient.
When evaluating the results of a study of fructosamine as a criterion for the compensation of diabetes mellitus, it is believed that when its content in the blood is from 280 to 320 μmol / l, the compensation is satisfactory, above 320 μmol / l is unsatisfactory.