Apolipoprotein B and platelet function in diabetes mellitus

Serum levels of apolipoprotein Β were measured, and investigations of the platelet function were carried out in 32 patients with insulin-dependent dabetes and in 34 healthy controls similar in age. Mean scrum levels of apolipoprotein Β were 1.51 g/l in the diabetic patients and 1.18 g/l in the control group, and this difference was significant. In the diabetic patients a secondary wave of aggregation was more easily induced by low concentrations of adenosine diphosphate or adrenaline. It was also possible to induce 50% of maximal aggregation by lower concentrations of adenosine diphosphate or arachidonic acid in these patients, and their number of circulating platelet aggregates increased. Plasma levels of β-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 were raised and, in the presence of N-ethyl maleimide, platelets from diabetic patients produced significantly more malondialdehyde than those from normal controls. The relationship between increased scrum levels of apolipoprotein Β and platelet hyperreactivity may be more than accidental and should be studied further to elucidate its possible implication with platelet function and atherogenesis. © 1986 S. Karger AG, Basel.