An interspecies comparison of normal levels of glycosylated hemoglobin and glycosylated albumin.

Aminophenylboronic acid affinity chromatography was used to measure glycosylated hemoglobin and glycosylated albumin levels in a variety of species. The highest glycosylated hemoglobin levels were found in man, the lowest in the chicken and the pig. The highest glycosylated albumin levels were found in avian species, the lowest in the mouse and the rat. A simple kinetic model was used to analyze the rates of formation of glycosylated hemoglobin and albumin in the various species. Rates of glycosylated albumin formation were very similar across the species while rates of glycosylated hemoglobin formation were quite different, presumably reflecting wide differences in erythrocyte permeability to glucose among the species.