Urinary excretions of albumin, glycosaminoglycans (GAGS), total sialic
acid (TSA), and lipid associated sialic acid (LASA) were measured in
78 non-insulin dependent diabetic patients (NIDDM) and 28 healthy subj
ects. TSA excretion was significantly higher in normoalbuminuric and m
icroalbuminuric diabetic subjects than the control subjects and TSA ex
cretion was correlated with urinary albumin excretion rate (AER). In n
ormoalbuminuric diabetics, the duration of diabetes correlated signifi
cantly with both sialicaciduria and albuminuria. Although serum TSA le
vels were significantly higher in both diabetic groups than the contro
l subjects, there was no correlation between serum and urinary TSA lev
els.