Clin Chem. 2025 Apr 7:hvaf035. doi: 10.1093/clinchem/hvaf035. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Methylglyoxal (MGO) is a potent glycating agent that contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetes. However, MGO is unstable in plasma without demanding sample preparation at blood collection, limiting its clinical utility as a biomarker. We aimed to discover reliable MGO-glycated albumin (ALB)-derived biomarkers and to assess their association with new-onset diabetes (NOD) in people with prediabetes.
METHODS: Bottom-up mass spectrometry-based proteomics was used to discover peptide biomarkers of MGO-glycated ALB, including MGO-derived hydroimidazolone (MGH)-ALB219-225, which proved to be biologically stable and reliable for large-scale analyses in human plasma. After assay validation, the IT-DIAB (Innovation Thérapeutique DIABète) prospective study, conducted in 300 individuals with impaired fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels (110 to 125 mg/dL, 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/L), was used to assess the association between plasma MGH-ALB219-225 and NOD, defined as FPG ≥126 mg/dL (7 mmol/L), using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox models.
RESULTS: In total, 113 participants of the IT-DIAB study developed NOD during a median follow-up of 5 years. There was a graded association between the baseline plasma MGH-ALB219-225 concentration and incident NOD (log-rank P < 0.0001), in contrast to a lack of association for plasma MGO and total or glycated ALB (commercial kit). After adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, FPG, hemoglobin (Hb) A1c, and ALB, the plasma levels of MGH-ALB219-225 were associated with NOD (hazard ratio [HR] per one SD [95% CI] = 1.50 [1.26-1.78]; P < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: MGH-ALB219-225 is a novel and stable peptide biomarker of MGO-glycated ALB, whose plasma levels are positively associated with an increased risk of NOD in individuals with prediabetes, independently of traditional risk factors. ClinicalTrials.gov Registration Number: NCT01218061.
PMID:40192447 | DOI:10.1093/clinchem/hvaf035