Glucose deprivation-induced glycogen degradation and viability are altered in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of type 2 diabetes patients

Abstract

The glycogen pathway plays an important role in glucose homeostasis. Impairment of the glycogen pathway has been linked to diabetes mellitus. The aim of the study is to compare the levels of glucose deprivation-induced glycogen degradation and cell viability in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and healthy controls. This was a case-control study comprising 45 T2DM patients and 45 healthy controls. PBMCs were prepared from peripheral blood by density gradient centrifugation. Glycogen levels were measured by the periodic acid-schiff (PAS) staining method. Glycogen degradation was measured as percent change in PAS-stained cells before and after glucose deprivation. PBMC viability was measured by trypan-blue assay. The levels of glucose deprivation-induced glycogen degradation were 55.4% (IQR: 50.6–61.3) in the T2DM group and 70.5% (IQR: 63.9–72.2) in the healthy control group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.001). The levels of glucose deprivation-induced cell viability were 70.9% (IQR: 66.3–77.1) in the T2DM group and 87.8% (IQR: 83.7–90.7) in the healthy control group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.001). Together these results indicate that the glucose deprivation-induced glycogen degradation and viability are reduced in PBMCs of T2DM patients.

Keywords

• cell viability
• glucose deprivation
• glycogen pathway
• peripheral blood mononuclear cells
• type 2 diabetes mellitus