Abstract
An important topic in the treatment of diabetic patients is the prevention of the outbreak and progressive development of both macro- and microangiopathy. For this reason, we conducted long-term administration of Dextran sulphate (DS) over a period of 8 years and studied the changes in lipids, coagulation and fibrinolytis and their relationship to diabetic angiopathy.
We selected our 79 subjects from diabetics with stable conditions who showed abnormally high values for at least 2 of the following items: total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) or β-lipoprotein. The subjects were randomly divided into 3 groups of which 37 patients served as controls, 21 were administered a daily dose of 900 mg of DS and 21 a daily dose of 1, 800 mg of DS.
Our results show that diabetics with hyperlipidemia exhibit prolongation of ELT and high antiplasmin levels. During the 8 year treatment period with DS, an improvement was observed in lipid levels (TG, β-lipoprotein) and the fibrinolytic system (ELT, antiplasmin) and this improvement tended to be especially marked in the 1, 800 mg group. The onset and mortality rate due to complications of diabetic angiopathy during this 8 year period were lower in the DS-treated group than in the controls.
