GlycA is a Novel Marker of Inflammation Among Non-Critically Ill Hospitalized Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Background GlycA is a nuclear magnetic resonance derived signal that originates from oligosaccharide chains of acute phase proteins. The object of this study is to characterize GlycA levels in hospitalized non-critically ill patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods This study evaluated traditional and novel (GlycA) inflammatory markers among 121 patients who were stratified by admission diagnoses: congestive heart failure (CHF), cardiac non-CHF (CARD), infection (INF), and other (OTH). Results HbA1c was similar across groups (8.0-9.2%, p=0.20). Inflammatory markers were elevated but varied significantly across disease categories, with the highest values of interleukin-6 (IL-6), c-reactive protein (CRP), and GlycA in the INF group and the highest tumor necrosis factor-α and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 levels in CHF group. GlycA was associated with higher IL-6 and CRP, lower hemoglobin and lower glomerular filtration rate. GlycA and other inflammatory markers were not significantly associated with admission glucose or HbA1c. Conclusions Among hospitalized non-critically ill patients with type 2 diabetes, GlycA was highest in INF patients and was associated with IL-6 and CRP. None of the markers were significant predictors of glucose control.

Inflammatory glycoproteins in cardiometabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases and cancer

“…Reduced glycan mobility is another reason why not all proteins with GlcNAc residues produce observable NMR signals, which is the case for fibrinogen and IgG [42]. Haptoglobin, AGP, α1-antitrypsin and α1-antichymotrypsin are positive acute phase proteins that increase in concentration and glycan complexity in inflammatory states [7,[14][15][16][17], enabling GlycA to be a biomarker of systemic inflammation that is associated with inflammatory markers such as high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP), fibrinogen, IL-6, serum amyloid A (SAA) and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A 2 (Lp-PLA 2 ) [42,[46][47][48][49][50][51] as well as increased neutrophil activity [52]. It has also been reported that GlycA is related to increased mortality risk [1,52,53] [ Gruppen et al unpublished results].…”

Association of the Composite Inflammatory Biomarker GlycA, with Exercise‐Induced Changes in Body Habitus in Men and Women with Prediabetes

“…Although the GlycA signal is associated with concentrations of IL-6, TNF- α , fibrinogen, and CRP, these proteins contribute negligibly to concentrations of GlycA [20, 21]. GlycA levels are raised in acute febrile illnesses [22].…”

Glycoprotein A as a biomarker of pulmonary infection and inflammation in children with cystic fibrosis

“…GlycA is a novel blood biomarker that has been shown to be elevated in various inflammatory conditions in both adults and children. [7][8][9] In our study cohort of participants with CF, we demonstrated that GlycA levels were associated with the presence of proinflammatory organisms and/or detectable free NE in BAL fluid, as well as with BWT on CT imaging.…”

“…Glycoprotein A (GlycA) levels reflect the abundance of mobile N‐acetyl sugar groups found on glycoproteins in circulating blood which are involved in the human acute phase response . In a variety of inflammatory disease states ranging from diabetes, cancer, and atherosclerosis in adults to acute Kawasaki disease in children, GlycA levels are elevated. Furthermore, in preschool children GlycA is associated with white cell count elevation and granulocyte proportion more closely than high sensitivity C‐reactive protein is, suggesting that GlycA may be a superior marker of chronic cumulative inflammation in early life .…”