Diabetes Care, Vol 17, Issue 8 828-831, Copyright © 1994 by American Diabetes Association

ARTICLES

Fetal hemoglobin in diabetic patients

LK Koskinen, JT Lahtela and TA Koivula
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Tampere University Hospital, Finland.

OBJECTIVE--To determine the occurrence of elevated fetal hemoglobin (HbF) among the diabetic population and determine the clinical situation of importance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--A cross-sectional study was conducted. HbA1c and HbF were measured with high-performance liquid chromatography in 1,104 consecutive diabetic patients attending our clinic for HbA1c determination. The expression of clinical correlations between the high and low HbF group was performed for adults (> or = 15 years). A nondiabetic control group (n = 258) with the same age and sex distribution was included. RESULTS--HbF was elevated (> 1.0% of total hemoglobin) in 7.5% of the total diabetic group. In the adult diabetic group, HbF was elevated in 6.5% of the patients, and in the control group, HbF was elevated in 1.9% (P < 0.01). In the insulin-treated adult group, HbF was elevated in 10.2% of the patients, and in the non-insulin-treated group, HbF was elevated in 3.8%. The mean HbA1c was 8.90 +/- 2.00% among the patients and 5.52 +/- 0.53% in the control subjects (P < 0.001). Patients with elevated HbF were younger (P < 0.02) and more often on insulin therapy (P < 0.001) or type I diabetic patients (P < 0.001). Sex, glycemic control, or duration of diabetes were not significantly different in the patients with high or low HbF. Correlation was not detected between the amount of HbF and HbA1c or age in the group of patients with elevated HbF. Hemoglobinopathies, anemias, or malignancies were not diagnosed from the patients with high HbF. CONCLUSIONS--Level of HbF is increased (> 1.0%) among 7.5% of unselected diabetic patients. In adult (> or = 15 years) diabetic patients, it is increased among 6.5%, which is 3.4 times more often than in the control population. Acute hematological conditions or malignancies do not explain the difference. Elevated HbF seems to be associated with type I diabetes and insulin treatment.
CiteULike    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S.-Y. P. K. Shiao and C.-N. Ou Validation of Oxygen Saturation Monitoring in Neonates Am. J. Crit. Care., March 1, 2007; 16(2): 168 - 178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. K. Kirk, R. B. D'Agostino Jr., R. A. Bell, L. V. Passmore, D. E. Bonds, A. J. Karter, and K.M. V. Narayan Disparities in HbA1c Levels Between African-American and Non-Hispanic White Adults With Diabetes: A meta-analysis. Diabetes Care, September 1, 2006; 29(9): 2130 - 2136. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Peters, D. Rohloff, T. Kohlmann, F. Renner, G. Jantschek, W. Kerner, and H. Lorenz Fehm Fetal Hemoglobin in Starvation Ketosis of Young Women Blood, January 15, 1998; 91(2): 691 - 694. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]