Relation between blood pressure and serum concentration of ouabain-like substance in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Abstract

shown that the immunoreactive substance we measured had Na/K-ATPase inhibitory activity and that it co-eluted with ouabain on high-performance liquid chromatography. OLS may contribute to hypertension by inhibiting the Na/KATPase activity causing increase in intracellular pH, sodium and calcium, which in turn, may lead to vasoconstriction and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. This hypothesis is supported by the observation that platelet Na/K-ATPase activity is reduced in diabetic patients. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that the high serum OLS may be a consequence of raised BP.