Relation Between Serum 3-Deoxyglucosone and Development of Diabetic Microangiopathy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—3-Deoxyglucosone (3-DG), a highly reactive intermediate of the glycation reaction, has been suggested to contribute to the development of diabetes complications. To verify this hypothesis, we assessed the relation between serum 3-DG concentrations and the severity of diabetic microangiopathy in diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We conducted a high-performance liquid chromatography assay to determine the serum 3-DG concentrations of 110 diabetic patients with different degrees of severity of diabetic microangiopathy and 57 age-matched control subjects. RESULTS—The fasting serum 3-DG level in diabetic patients was significantly (P < 0.001) higher than that in control subjects (353 ± 110 vs. 199 ± 53 nmol/l). The 3-DG levels were significantly (P < 0.001) elevated even in the diabetic patients showing normoalbuminuria (n = 62, 322 ± 79 nmol/l) compared with control subjects. The 3-DG levels were further elevated in the patients with microalbuminuria (n = 30, 383 ± 146 nmol/l) and overt proteinuria (n = 18, 410 ± 100 nmol/l) (P = 0.027 and P < 0.001 vs. normoalbuminuria group, respectively). This phenomenon was basically reproduced in a category of retinopathy. Furthermore, the diabetic patients with low nerve conduction velocity showed a tendency to display higher 3-DG levels. CONCLUSIONS—The present results show that the fasting serum 3-DG level is elevated in diabetic patients and that the patients with relatively higher 3-DG levels were prone to suffer from more severe complications, indicating a possible association of 3-DG with diabetic microangiopathy.