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Biomedical subjects

R J Koenig

Publications and source records attributed to R J Koenig.

65 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Hemoglobin A Ic and diabetes mellitus.

Hemoglobin A Ic is produced when glucose reacts nonenzymatically with the NH2-termini of Hb A beta chains and then undergoes an Amadori rearrangement. The concentration of Hb A Ic measured at any given time reflects a patient's mean blood glucose level for the preceding weeks to months. Infrequent measurements of Hb A Ic can therefore be used to assess long-term carbohydrate control in outpatient diabetics. In addition, the synthesis of Hb A Ic may represent a model reaction to explain the pathogenesis of many of the sequelae of chronic diabetes. Nonenzymatic glycosylation reactions may also underlie some of the changes ascribed to normal aging.

Blood Glucose↗

Immunologic characterization and quantification of haemoglobin A1c.

Sheep antiserum developed against the human glycohaemoglobin, Hb A1c, distinguishes this fraction from the major component Hb A0. Partial cross reactivity is observed with Hb A1a and Hb A1b, as well as with analogous glycohaemoglobins from mouse and dog haemolysates. The reactivity of the haemoglobins with this specific antiserum is abolished by the reduction of the keto group of the sugar ligand. The immunological specificity displayed provides the basis of a quantitative assay for Hb A1c, suitable for studies of clinical and experimental diabetes.

Animals↗

Structure of carbohydrate of hemoglobin AIc.

Hemoglobin AIc is a minor component of normal adult erythrocytes whose concentration is elevated approximately 2-fold in patients with diabetes mellitus. Previous work suggested that the unique structural feature of hemoglobin AIc is the presence of a low molecular weight sugar moiety at the NH2-terminal valine of the beta chain. In this study the structure of the carbohydrate moiety and the nature of its linkage of the beta chain were investigated. Enzymatic digestion of borohydride-reduced betaAIc chains followed by ion exchange chromatography led to the isolation of two distinct NH2-terminal glycovalylhistidines. Comparison of these glycodipeptides with synthetic glycovalylhistidines by thin layer chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy gave direct evidence that the naturally derived materials correspond to glucitol and mannitol valylhistidines. Model reactions showed that glucose and mannose react with valine under mild conditions to form an adduct which upon sodium borohydride reduction yields in both cases glucitol and mannitol valines. This suggests a common intermediate, 1-deoxy-1-(N-valyl)fructose, for both reactions. From these studies we conclude that hemoglobin AIc has, as the NH2 terminus of the beta chain, 1-deoxy-1-(N-valyl)fructose. The possible biosynthetic pathways of hemoglobin AIc are discussed.

Adult↗

Correlation of serum triglyceride levels and hemoglobin AIc concentrations in diabetes mellitus.

Studies in 10 nonketotic diabetic subjects (five juvenile- and five adult-onset) before and after control of carbohydrate metabolism showed a high degree of correlation between hemoglobin AIc (HbAIc) concentrations and serum triglyceride levels. Serum triglyceride levels were found to correlate more closely with Hb AIc (r = 0.91, p less than 0.001) than did serum cholesterol (r = 0.47, p greater than 0.05), thus indicating a more direct relationship to carbohydrate metabolism.

Adult↗

Reversible hematologic sequelae of diabetes mellitus.

Seven patients with diabetes mellitus were hospitalized and their blood sugar concentrations regulated as a result of fasting blood sugar, sugar around meals, urinary sugar, and hemoglobin AIC assays. Erythrocyte half-life as measured by 51 Cr increased in all patients from a mean of 27 days to 31 days, while hemoglobin AIC levels decreased from a mean of 10.1% to 5.6%. Leukocyte adherence increased in all patients from a mean of 28% to 51%. Most striking were the changes observed in platelet function in response to epinephrine. The length of the secondary lag phase of platelet aggregation, after a stimulus with final concentration of 70 muM of epinephrine, increased from a mean of 19 seconds to 65 seconds. Studies in additional patients confirmed an inverse correlation between hemoglobin AIC concentration and the secondary lag phase (r = 0.87, P less than 0.001). These studies found that certain secondary sequelas of diabetes can be corrected by strict carbohydrate control and confirmed that hemoglobin AIC assays provide a useful means of showing the degree of control of glucose metabolism in diabetic patients.

Adolescent↗

Correlation of glucose regulation and hemoglobin AIc in diabetes mellitus.

We studied the increased levels of hemoglobins AIa+Ib and AIc in five hospitalized diabetic patients to determine whether changes in diabetic control would cause parallel changes in the levels of these hemoglobins. Before control of diabetes the mean fasting blood sugar for all patients was 343 mg per deciliter (range, 280 to 450), and hemoglobin AIc concentration 9.8 per cent (range, 6.8 to 12.1). During optimal diabetic control the blood sugar concentration was 84 mg per deciliter (range, 70 to 100), and hemoglobin AIc concentration 5.8 per cent (range, 4.2 to 7.6). Hemoglobin AIc concentration appears to reflect the mean blood sugar concentration best over previous weeks to months. The periodic monitoring of hemoglobin AIc levels provides a useful way of documenting the degree of control of glucose metabolism in diabetic patients and provides a means whereby the relation of carbohydrate control to the development of sequelae can be assessed.

Adult↗

Increased hemoglobin AIc in diabetic mice.

The minor hemoglobins AIa, AIb, and AIc were studied in mice with either genetic or chemically induced diabetes. Hemoglobin AIc was elevated approximately twofold in all the phenotypically diabetic mice studied (C57BL/KsJ-db/db, C57BL/KsJ-ob/ob, C57BL/6J-db/db, and alloxan- and streptozotocin-treated mice). Elevation of the hemoglobin AIc in C57BL/6J-db/db mice was of short duration, reflecting the transitory diabetes characteristic of these mice. The degree of increase of hemoglobin AIc levels was unrelated to severity of hyperglycemia, duration of diabetes, age of mouse, or body weight. It is not known what factor(s) dictates the steady-state concentration of hemoglobin AIc.

Age Factors↗

Hemoglobin AIc as an indicator of the degree of glucose intolerance in diabetes.

Hemoglobin AIc concentration, fasting blood sugar, response to an oral glucose tolerance test, and skeletal muscle capillary basement membrane thickness were measured in diabetic patients. Hemoglobin AIc concentration correlates with both response to a glucose tolerance test (r = 0.82, p less than 0.001) and fasting blood sugar (r = 0.62, p less than 0.001). The correlation of hemoglobin AIc concentration with glucose tolerance is independent of fasting blood sugar concentration (partial r = 0.61, p less than 0.005), whereas that of hemoglobin AIc with fasting blood sugar probably reflects the relationship between fasting blood sugar levels and glucose tolerance (partial r = 0.22, p less than 0.05). Hemoglobin AIc levels do not correlate with basement membrane thickness ( r = 0.15, p less than 0.05).

Basement Membrane↗

Synthesis of hemoglobin AIc in normal and diabetic mice: potential model of basement membrane thickening.

Adult diabetic mice (C57Bl/KsJ--db/db) have increased amounts of a minor hemoglobin in their peripheral blood compared to wild-type (+/+) mice. This increase is analogous to the 2-fold increase of a glycohemoglobin with similar chromatographic mobility (Hb AIc) seen in the blood of patients with diabetes mellitus. Although the exact chemical nature of human or mouse Hb AIc is unknown, both contain a sodium-borohydride-reducible linkage on the beta chain which is a presumed Schiff base between a sugar moiety and the protein. The db/db animals, which have normal amounts of mouse Hb AIc at weaning, show the increase approximately 4 weeks after the onset of the signs of diabetes. This rise is brought about by an increase in a circulating factor that determines directly or indirectly the synthesis of mouse Hb AIc as a post-synthetic modification of Hb A. Evidence for this was obtained by showing that the rate of synthesis of the modified Hb is linear for at least the first 50 days of the life of the red cell and that the rate of synthesis is dependent on the environment in which the cells circulate. Thus the rate of mouse Hb AIc synthesis in +/+ cells is greater when those cells circulate in a db/db host than when they circulate in a +/+ host. The nature of the humoral factor is unknown. If glycosylations of basement membrane proteins and hemoglobin proceed via a common mechanism, then the monitoring of Hb AIc could provide a useful model for studying the early events of basement membrane thickening.

Age Factors↗