| Abstract: | The study was designed to investigate whether impaired composition of platelet lipids in untreated diabetic patients improved after diabetic treatment. Fourteen untreated patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and 15 healthy control subjects were studied. In the diabetic patients, the ratio of free cholesterol to phospholipid (FC/PL) in platelets of 0.33 ± 0.02 (mean ± SEM) at pre-treatment, which was statistically (p < 0.05) higher than that of 0.26 ± 0.02 in control subjects, was significantly decreased to the value of 0.29 ± 0.02 (p < 0.01) after insulin therapy. Platelet FC level of 9.77 ± 0.77 μg 10?8 cells pre-treatment was significantly (p < 0.01) reduced to the value of 7.72 ± 0.38 μg 10?8 cells post-treatment. Platelet PL level showed no significant changes after the treatment. There was a significantly (p < 0.01) positive correlation between the decrease in FC/PL of platelets and that in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) after treatment for diabetes (rs = ?0.729). These results indicate that the impaired lipid composition in platelets can be improved after an adequate glycaemic control in patients with NIDDM. |
