Some physicochemical and immunochemical properties of blood serum
euglobulins were studied in patients with
diabetes mellitus with different degree of vascular lesions.
Euglobulins were isolated from blood serum of normal subjects and
diabetes mellitus patients by precipitation in low ionic strength dialyzing
solution. As a result two
euglobulin subfractions were obtained: soluble and insoluble in an isotonic saline. To study
euglobulins, use was made of radioimmunoassay, gel filtration, and radial immunodiffusion. The data obtained indicate that patients with
diabetes mellitus showed a significant increase in
euglobulin content in both subfractions (P less than 0.001). Besides, the insoluble subfraction demonstrated a new
protein component with a molecular mass about 265000 dalton, uncommon to healthy donors. There was a dramatic increase (P less than 0.0001) in the amount of
euglobulin bound
insulin, an insignificant part of which was combined with
insulin antibodies and greater part with unidentified
euglobulin components. The changes in the physicochemical and immunochemical properties of
serum globulins in
diabetes mellitus patients correlated with the gravity of vascular lesions as regards the majority of the parameters. It is concluded that these changes are possibly involved in the pathogenesis of
diabetic angiopathies.