LACTATE-DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITY OF PLATELETS IN DIABETES-MELLITUS

Lactate dehydrogenase (L-lactate : NAD(+) oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27) activity has been measured on the subpopulations of platelets obtaine d from blood of diabetic patients. Small, but not large platelets show a lactate dehydrogenase activity higher than that of controls. Moreov er, a positive statistically significant correlation was found between the activity of small platelets and the percent of glycated haemoglob in, while no correlation was obtained in the case of large platelets. Since we previously demonstrated that lactate dehydrogenase activity o f small platelets is exceedingly high in some clinical and experimenta l conditions, our results not only confirm the involvement of platelet s in diabetes but provide more evidence in support of our previous hyp othesis of a relationship between lactate dehydrogenase and in-vivo pl atelet activation.