Chlorpropamide Alcohol Flushing in Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Leslie and Pyke have reported that chlorpropamide alcohol flushing (CPAF) is useful as a marker for a special type of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in CPAF positive diabetics is lower than that in CPAF negative diabetics.
The present study was undertaken to investigate whether a similar tendency could be recognized in Japanese patients with NIDDM. We also examined certain serum factors in the CPAF positive and negative groups, which were thought to be associated with diabetic retinopathy.
Twenty-one of the 100 NIDDM patients who flushed with alcohol alone were excluded from the study. Of the other 79 subjects, 46 (58%) were CPAF positive and 33 (42%) were CPAF negative. The incidence of diabetic retinopathy in the CPAF positive cases was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that in the CPAF negative cases at 5 years after diagnosis, while there was no difference between the CPAF positive and negative groups within 5 years of diagnosis. However, no significant differences in serum lipids, β-thromboglobulin or β-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity were noted between the two groups after 5 years. No difference was found in blood glucose and plasma insulin, or in other clinical and laboratory findings.
It is suggested therefore that the difference in prevalence of diabetic retinopathy between the CPAF positive and negative groups may be due to some other unknown factor.