THE URIC ACID AND GLUTATHIONE CONTENT OF THE BLOOD IN DIABETES MELLITUS

Abstract

Blood reduced glutathione, uric acid, glucose and urea N detns. were done in 14 fasting ambulatory diabetics. In none of the subjects was the blood reduced glutathione level below the normal range of 26-42 mg.% although many showed a fasting hyperglycemia. None of the detns. of true uric acid was outside the normal range of 1.04-3.8 mg.%. Reduced glutathione protects animals and man against exptl. diabetes, and uric acid has been implicated as a diabetogenic substance. Though the blood levels of uric acid and reduced glutathione might have been expected to deviate from the normal, this was not found to be true in the 14 diabetics studied.