Determination of glycemic monitoring marker 1,5-anhydroglucitol in plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Previous studies have shown that plasma 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) is markedly reduced among diabetic patients and therefore serves as a sensitive marker for short-term glycemic control. The current study describes the development of the liquid chromatography negative ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method to measure 1,5-AG in human plasma. The samples were pre-treated with protein precipitation and an isotope-labeled internal standard was used. Chromatographic separation was achieved on amide column (150 mm × 2.0 mm i.d., 5 μm) followed by detection with multiple reaction monitoring mode. Linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery, matrix effect, and stability were evaluated during method validation over the range of 1–50 μg/mL. The validated method has been clinically applied among 159 type 2 diabetic patients and 290 control subjects. A marked reduction in 1,5-AG levels among the diabetic patients and significant between-gender difference in nondiabetic subjects were observed.