Abstract
The present investigation was undertaken to clarify a clinical significance of serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) in diabetes mellitus. Serum HDL-cholesterol was determined in 100 healthy subjects and 137 diabetic patients according to the method of NIH using heparin-Mn++. Serum HDL-cholesterol levels in diabetics were significantly lower than those in healthy subjects. In diabetic groups, no significant correlation was found between HDL-cholesterol and FBS or the duration of the disease. Serum HDL-cholesterol levels in diabetics complicated with hypertension, albuminuria and/or abnormal ECG findings were lower than those in diabetics without these complication. Furthermore, there was a reverse relationship between the degree of diabetic retinopathy and serum HDL-cholesterol level.
Our results indicate that determination of serum HDL-cholesterol may be a useful tool to estimate the degree of diabetic angiopathy.
