Comparison of four commercial methods for the determination of fast hemoglobins.

The performance of three commercial kits, based on microchromatographic techniques for the determination of glycosylated hemoglobins (fast hemoglobins) has been evaluated. All three kits showed good precision, provided the laboratory temperature remained constant. Temperature variations of even one degree C had a profound effect on the kits from Helena Laboratories and Isolab Inc., while the one from BIO-RAD Laboratories was less influenced. The use of the temperature correction tables provided by Helena Laboratories and Isolab Inc., improved the reproducibility of their results significantly. Since there is no designated reference method, an evaluation of accuracy was not possible. The absolute values for fast hemoglobins, as measured by the three microchromatographic kits, differed from each other. Also, when a series of specimens from diabetic patients and from healthy control subjects were compared, the relative ratios of the results obtained from the three kits differed from specimen to specimen. However, there was no overlap between results from diabetic and control specimens. The performance of the electrophoretic method of Corning Medical Co. was also evaluated.