TY - JOUR A2 - Chakrabarti, Subrata AU - Hach, Thomas AU - Forst, Thomas AU - Kunt, Thomas AU - Ekberg, Karin AU - Pfützner, Andreas AU - Wahren, John PY - 2008 DA - 2008/05/06 TI - C-Peptide and Its C-Terminal Fragments Improve Erythrocyte Deformability in Type 1 Diabetes Patients SP - 730594 VL - 2008 AB - Aims/hypothesis. Data now indicate that proinsulin C-peptide exerts important physiological effects and shows the characteristics of an endogenous peptide hormone. This study aimed to investigate the influence of C-peptide and fragments thereof on erythrocyte deformability and to elucidate the relevant signal transduction pathway.Methods. Blood samples from 23 patients with type 1 diabetes and 15 matched healthy controls were incubated with 6.6 nM of either human C-peptide, C-terminal hexapeptide, C-terminal pentapeptide, a middle fragment comprising residues 11–19 of C-peptide, or randomly scrambled C-peptide. Furthermore, red blood cells from 7 patients were incubated with C-peptide, penta- and hexapeptides with/without addition of ouabain, EDTA, or pertussis toxin. Erythrocyte deformability was measured using a laser diffractoscope in the shear stress range 0.3–60 Pa. Results. Erythrocyte deformability was impaired by 18–25% in type 1 diabetic patients compared to matched controls in the physiological shear stress range 0.6–12 Pa (P<.01.001). C-peptide, penta- and hexapeptide all significantly improved the impaired erythrocyte deformability of type 1 diabetic patients, while the middle fragment and scrambled C-peptide had no detectable effect. Treatment of erythrocytes with ouabain or EDTA completely abolished the C-peptide, penta- and hexapeptide effects. Pertussis toxin in itself significantly increased erythrocyte deformability. Conclusion/interpretation. C-peptide and its C-terminal fragments are equally effective in improving erythrocyte deformability in type 1 diabetes. The C-terminal residues of C-peptide are causally involved in this effect. The signal transduction pathway is Ca2+-dependent and involves activation of red blood cell Na+,K+-ATPase. SN - 2314-6745 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2008/730594 DO - 10.1155/2008/730594 JF - Experimental Diabetes Research PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -