title: [Changes in the heme metabolic pathway in diabetic patients].
abstract: In the last decades several authors have observed a frequent association between diabetes mellitus and porphyria, mainly porphyria cutanea tarda. In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that both d delta d-aminolevulic acid dehydratase (ALA-D) and porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D), enzymes of the heme pathway, are inhibited by high concentrations of glucose in vitro in crude preparations of erythrocytes. The activity of these same enzymes was diminished in different tissues obtained from streptozotocin induced diabetic mice. Therefore, we decided to investigate the incidence of heme metabolism alterations in diabetes mellitus in a population of 100 non selected adult patients. The activities of erythrocytic ALA-D and PBG-D were measured. Rhodanese, an enzyme of the sulfocompounds pathway closely related to the regulation of heme biosynthesis, was also studied. Urine porphyrin content as well as the chromatographic pattern of esterified porphyrins were determined. ALA-D and PBG-D activities were diminished in diabetic patients (40% and 20% respectively), while rhodanese was only slightly increased (Fig. 1). ALA-D activity was subnormal in a 92% of the complete diabetic population, while PBG-D activity was less than normal in a 79% of the same population. No significative differences between enzymic activities were observed in the groups insulin and non-insulin dependent (Fig. 3). Urine porphyrin content was increased in 5% of the diabetic population. Chromatographic pattern of urinary porphyrins was notably altered in diabetic patients irrespectively of their porphyrin content (Fig. 4), suggesting an alteration in the enzyme uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase resembling the primary enzymic defect observed in porphyria cutanea tarda.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias (CIPYP), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gerez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Polo
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mompo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernabó
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Batlle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006418:Heme / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D017119:Porphyria Cutanea Tarda / Q000209:etiology; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000652:urine; D014575:Uroporphyrinogen Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D011166:Porphyrins; D006418:Heme; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase; D014575:Uroporphyrinogen Decarboxylase; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase
vernacular_title: Alteraciones en el camino metabólico del hemo en pacientes diabéticos.