Bilirubin and HbA1c in type 1 diabetes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of the relationship between serum bilirubin and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in people with type 1 diabetes
IRAS ID
137027
Contact name
Peter Mansell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Research summary
It is important for people with diabetes to attaing as good blood glucose control as possible to minimise the risk of long-term complications. The ’gold standard’ test of diabetec control is the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level, which is a laboratory blood test which all people with diabetes have at 3 to 12 month intervals. However the HbA1c level can be affected by factors other than blood concentrations. For example, in certain medical conditions (e.g. haemolytic anaemia), the HbA1c is falsely lowered. There are two published studies in Far Eastern populations that, in people without diabetes and in those with type 2 diabetes, the HbA1c is lower in those with a high bilirubil level in the blood. There is a plausible reason for this finding as the HbA1c level depends on the life-span of red cells in the circulation, and if the rate of turnover is higher than average, the HbA1c will be reduced, and the bilirubin increased, as bilirubin is formed from the breakdown of haemoglobin in red cells. Haemolytic anaemia would be an extreme case of this phenomenon. This issue is clearly of importance in assessing diabetes control but has never seemingly been investigated in a Western population or in type 1 diabetes, which is the rationale for this study. We plan to combine information already available on the Nottingham Diabetes Register, the Nottingham University Hospitals Pathology system and the Nottingham Diabetic Retinopathy screening register to address this question.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NW/0593
Date of REC Opinion
8 Aug 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion