Diabetes Mellitus: Clinical and Biochemical Perspectives

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which the body cannot produce or properly use insulin, a hormone necessary for the uptake of glucose in cells. According to the American Diabetes Association, 23.6 million people in the United States (7.8% of the population) have diabetes. There are three distinct types of diabetes – type I, type II, and gestational – but this project will look specifically at types I and II which are characterized by failure to produce insulin and by insulin resistance respectively. Both type I and type II diabetes leave glucose free to circulate in the bloodstream since cells cannot take up this glucose without insulin present. High concentrations of glucose in the bloodstream have been shown to cause acute and long‐term health complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis, glycosuria, polyuria, nerve and tissue damage, retinopathy, stroke, and kidney disease, all of which we will present from a clinical perspective. We will also examine diabetes mellitus from the biomolecular level by investigating the relationship between hyperglycemia, PKCε activation, and β cell dysfunction. Additionally, we will research one particular diabetic complication – retinopathy – at the biomolecular level. Results will be discussed in terms of abnormal renal vasodilatation and vascular permeability through PKC‐dependent mechanisms.