Glycated albumin.

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) is the reference test for long-term glucose monitoring. However, HbA_1c is not recommended in several situations such as hemoglobinopathies, pregnancy or chronic kidney disease. The quantification of serum glycated albumin (GA) can serve as an alternative in these situations. In fact, serum albumin may undergo structural changes by glycation which impacts on its function and plays a major role in the genesis of diabetes mellitus complications. GA can be measured accurately either on serum or plasma collected on tubes containing lithium heparin or EDTA as anticoagulant. The introduction of a new enzymatic assay has increased the diffusion of this test, in both research and clinical settings. This enzymatic assay is rapid, sensitive and adaptable on routine clinical chemistry analyzers. GA allows an evaluation of the glycemic balance over a period of approximately three weeks, and it is particularly interesting for diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease.