Low Red Blood Cell Vitamin C Concentrations Induce Red Blood Cell Fragility: A Link to Diabetes Via Glucose, Glucose Transporters, and Dehydroascorbic Acid.

ABSTRACT: Strategies to prevent diabetic microvascular angiopathy focus on the vascular endothelium. Because red blood cells (RBCs) are less deformable in diabetes, we explored an original concept linking decreased RBC deformability to RBC ascorbate and hyperglycemia. We characterized ascorbate concentrations from human and mouse RBCs and plasma, and showed an inverse relationship between RBC ascorbate concentrations and deformability, measured by osmotic fragility. RBCs from ascorbate deficient mice were osmotically sensitive, appeared as spherocytes, and had decreased β-spectrin. These aberrancies reversed with ascorbate repletion in vivo. Under physiologic conditions, only ascorbate's oxidation product dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), a substrate for facilitated glucose transporters, was transported i

SUBMITTER: Tu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4740302 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature