The Bio-Rad Diamat Analyser: an automated liquid chromatography system for haemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c) determination.

The measurement of glycosylated haemoglobin is a relatively new clinical tool, the assays for their determination having become increasingly available since their introduction in the late seventies. The clinical usefulness of these assays in the long-term monitoring of diabetics, especially the pregnant diabetics, appears to be generally accepted. There remains, however, considerable confusion amongst clinicians as to their reliability and interpretation. This is largely engendered by the diversity of the diagnostic methods in current usage, many of which are not specific for the HbA1c moiety, which is the subfraction comprising haemoglobin molecules with attached glucose molecules at the amino terminal valine sites, and which has been shown to be increased in the blood of diabetic patients. This paper describes an evaluation of one of the most specific methods currently available, using state-of-the-art technology. In addition to specificity, the method appears attractive in being precise, automatable (and thus operator-independent), and rapid.