Ischemia Modified Albumin Test to Detect Early Diabetic Complications

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the albumin cobalt binding (ACB) test in a cohort of type 2 diabetes patients. The ACB test is a simple, inexpensive, sensitive and robust test that could have important clinical application in detecting complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: We tested patients with type 2 diabetes without any clinically detectable complications or without any other comorbid conditions for serum ACB levels along with an equal number of age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. ACB levels were compared after the patients with diabetes were investigated for various complications using standard statistical tests of significance. Results: A total of 100 patients with type 2 diabetes were studied with age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Of the 100 patients, 78 had different complications on detailed laboratory testing. The patients with complications had significantly higher ACB test results when compared to the patients with diabetes without complications and to that of the control subjects (0.62 +/- 0.04, 0.42 +/- 0.07, 0.30 +/- 0.05 absorbance units (ABSU)/mL, respectively. P < 0.001). All values in diabetics were significantly higher than that of controls. Conclusions: The serum ACB test is a sensitive indicator of complications developed in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients may be followed up with ACB results to detect early complications in this disease.