Objective: To investigate changes of platelet glycoproteins in patients with diabetes mellitus(DM) type II and their clinical significance.
Methods: Seventy DM patients and 28 normal individuals entered in this study. The platelet glycoproteins Ib, IIb, IIIa and P-selectin were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). Platelet surface P-selectin was measured by Immunoradiometric analysis (IRMA), and plasma P-selectin concentration by ELISA.
Results: On FCM, the P-selectin expression on platelets of patients with vascular diseases [(10.28 +/- 4.86)%] was higher than that of normal subjects [(3.75 +/- 1.83)%] (P < 0.01) and patients without vascular diseases [(4.25 +/- 2.29)%] (P < 0.01). Similar results were obtained using IRMA. Plasma P-selectin concentration in patients with vascular diseases [(6.18 +/- 3.20) ng/ml] was higher than that of control group [(3.43 +/- 1.56) ng/ml](P < 0.05) and that of patients without vascular diseases [(3.71 +/- 2.12) ng/ml] (P < 0.05). On the contrary, the platelet surface GP Ib expression in patients with vascular diseases [(86.35 +/- 11.00)%] was remarkably lower than that of normal subjects [(92.63 +/- 7.55)%] (P < 0.05), while platelet GP IIb and IIIa were not changed in any cases.
Conclusion: The P-selectin levels in plasma and on platelet surface were increased while platelet membrane GP Ib was decreased in DM type II patients with vascular events.