Hyperglycemia and RBCs: too sweet to survive

Sustained untreated hyperglycemia is associated with complications at molecular, cellular, and organ levels in the body that ultimately lead to comorbidities including cardiovascular-related pathologies, neuropathies, nephropathies, blindness, limb amputations, etc. Mature RBCs are unique in their s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of diabetes in developing countries 2018-10, Vol.38 (4), p.357-365
Main Authors: Mamoun Rajab, Ahmad, Haider, Khawaja Husnain
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Antioxidants
Blindness
Cell membranes
Deformability
Diabetes
Energy requirements
Family Medicine
General Practice
Glycolysis
Health Administration
Hyperglycemia
Life span
Lipid peroxidation
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Microvasculature
Mitochondria
Neuropathy
Organelles
Review Article
Structure-function relationships
Sweet taste
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Summary:Sustained untreated hyperglycemia is associated with complications at molecular, cellular, and organ levels in the body that ultimately lead to comorbidities including cardiovascular-related pathologies, neuropathies, nephropathies, blindness, limb amputations, etc. Mature RBCs are unique in their structure and function; being without cellular organelles including nucleus and mitochondria, they are highly sensitive and responsive to the molecular changes in their microenvironment in general and elevated glucose in particular. They lack the ability to synthesize new proteins, replenish its enzyme-based antioxidant machinery, and replace any cellular components in the event of oxidative damage. Although they are dependent on glycolytic processing of glucose for their energy requirements, sustained exposure to hyperglycemia significantly impacts their structure as well as function and leads to early aging of the circulating RBCs with shortened lifespan. Loss of deformability due to hyperglycemia prohibits them to reversibly change their shape and squeeze through the microvasculature, a hallmark of RBC functionality for nutrient and gaseous exchanges. This mini-review of literature signifies the effect of hyperglycemia on RBCs in terms of eryptosis, lipid peroxidation in the cell membrane to compromise membrane integrity which significantly alters its deformity and coaguability, and adherence to endothelial surface leading loss of functionality and life-span.
ISSN:0973-3930
1998-3832
DOI:10.1007/s13410-018-0613-6