Total and ganglioside-bound sialic acid content of lymphocytes from non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

The total and ganglioside-bound sialic acid content of unfractionated blood lymphocytes obtained from normal-weight healthy subjects (n=17) and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients on oral hypoglycemic drugs arbitrarily divided into normal-weight (n=11), moderately overweight (n=14) and severely overweight (n=17) subgroups were examined. In normal-weight diabetics the level of lipid-bound sialic acid (gangliosides) of lymphocytes was found to be reduced (p<0.01). A more pronounced decrease (p<0.001) was observed for the lymphocyte total sialic acid of normal-weight and moderately overweight diabetics as compared to healthy subjects. In severely overweight non-insulin-dependent diabetics the decrease of total sialic acid was less pronounced compared to that found in healthy subjects. Whether this finding was due to obesity in these patients remains to be clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Diabetologica Latina is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)