title: Red blood cell sorbitol in diabetic children.
abstract: When red blood cells (RBC) were incubated with various concentrations of glucose, the RBC sorbitol level increased in a concentration-dependent manner. The elevated RBC sorbitol level was not reduced by further incubation in a glucose-free medium. In both diabetic and non-diabetic children, an increase of RBC sorbitol levels occurred in the oral glucose tolerance test and the return to baseline was delayed in diabetics compared with non-diabetics. In the majority of diabetics (87%), RBC sorbitol levels exceeded the upper limit of the normal range, which was arbitrarily determined as the mean + 2 s.d., in healthy non-diabetic children and adults. A good correlation was observed between RBC sorbitol levels and plasma glucose levels (r = 0.644). In both diabetics and non-diabetics, no correlation was observed between RBC sorbitol levels and age, and in diabetics the RBC sorbitol level was not related to the duration of disease. A good correlation was observed between RBC sorbitol levels, and hemoglobin Alc (HbAlc) or fructosamine levels in diabetic children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Osaka Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mino
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konishi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013012:Sorbitol / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D013012:Sorbitol