Abstract
In order to clarify the effects of impaired liver function on 1, 5-anhydroglucitol (AG) metabolism, we measured serum AG concentrations in 15 patients with compensated liver cirrhosis who had a negligible amounts of glucose in their 24-hr urine samples.Serum AG concentrations were significantly lower in cirrhotics than in normal controls (20.0±2.2 vs 26.1±1.7μg/m, p<0.05). Moreover, cirrhotics with low serum albumin (<3.5g/dl) or serum cholinesterase (<3.0 IU/l) levels had significanly lower serum AG concentrations than patients with normal values (14.3±1.0 vs 23.6±3.5μg/m/, p<0.05; 13.7±1.0 vs 24.0±3.3μg/m/, p<0.05). Mean fasting blood glucose, HbA1, fructosamine and AG clearance in cirrhotics were unaffected by their albumin or cholinesterase levels. A significant positive correlation was found between serum AG and cholinesterase levels (r=0.74, p<0.01). These findings suggest that the low serum AG concentrations of patients with cirrhosis may be the result of altered liver metabolism of AG.
