(FK131789) Támogató: Nemzeti Kutatás, Fejlesztés és Innovációs Iroda
(UNKP-22-5)
Diabetes mellitus is often associated with vascular complications in which hyperglycemia-induced
oxidative stress may be the cause of the impaired vessels and circulating blood cells.
The aim of this study was to follow the hyperglycemia-related metabolic and morphological
changes in blood and urine samples of Wistar rats. Animals were divided into streptozotocin-induced
diabetic (acute and chronic), insulin-treated diabetic, reversed diabetic, and control
groups. In chronic diabetic rats, decreases in albumin, total protein, and antioxidant
glutation concentration were measured, while glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, alkaline
phosphatase, red blood cell (RBC) count, hematocrit, and hemoglobin levels were increased.
Moreover, an increased level of the phenotypic variants was detected in the RBC population
of the diabetic animals. In conclusion, we verified the sensitivity of RBCs to long-lasting
hyperglycemia, and to insulin deficiency, which were both accompanied with an increased
level of RBC-derived parameters and the presence of eccentrocytes, hemolyzed RBCs,
and codocytes. Moreover, our results show that the response of the RBC glutation system
to oxidative stress depends on the duration of hyperglycemia, and that the short-term
activation of this defense system is exhausted in a long-lasting oxidative environment.
Insulin therapy was effective in the case of most parameters, which clearly emphasizes
the importance of maintaining blood glucose at physiological level.