Glycosilated hemoglobin or glyced hemoglobin, what term is it correct to use?

Abstract

Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a good indicator to evaluate diabetic patients and thanks to the standardization achieved in the test, it is the first diagnostic criterion of diabetes in asymptomatic individuals or with clinical suspicion of this disease.

Different authors have mentioned that the usual use of the term "glycosylated" should be ruled out, since this term corresponds to the type of enzymatic chemical reaction, correctly assuming the term "glycated hemoglobin" or its "glycated" anglicism, to refer to the effect of the glycation reaction on hemoglobin.

From the chemical point of view, glycosylation is defined as the reaction of primary amino groups of amino acids, peptides and proteins with the carbonyl group of reducing sugars. In contrast, glycation consists of a slow, non-enzymatic reaction of reducing sugars such as glucose and ribose with amino acid groups of a protein. The glycation of Hb is a process that occurs inside the red cell, as the wall of the red blood cell is completely and freely permeable to the monosaccharide molecules.

For this reason it is recommended to use the terminology of Glycated Hemoglobin or Glucated Hemoglobin to refer to HBA1C; since the term "glycosylated hemoglobin" is a term that does not correspond to a non-enzymatic reaction as is the terminology previously proposed.