Glucose transport in human peripheral blood lymphocytes influenced by type 2 diabetes mellitus

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to evaluate glucose transport into lymphocytes in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) treated either with diet only or with insulin and to propose peripheral blood lymphocytes as a convenient model for cellular glucose transport studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty subjects with type 2 DM, 30 treated with diet only and 30 with insulin, were investigated. Thirty healthy subjects matched for age, weight, and sex served as a control group. Deoxy-D-glucose, 2-[(3)H(G)] transport was studied in isolated peripheral blood lymphocytes. Expression of glucose transporters was ascertained by immunocytochemical identification and by Western blotting. RESULTS: In lymphocytes from the control group, deoxy-D-glucose uptake increased gradually with the duration of the experiment. In diabetics treated with insulin, the maximal increase in deoxy-D-glucose uptake was observed after 30 min of the investigation, followed by a plateau phase. In diabetics treated with diet, deoxy-D-glucose uptake increased slowly during the first 30 min. The presence of GLUT1 and GLUT3 in lymphocytes was confirmed in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Glucose transport into lymphocytes is altered in type 2 DM. In lymphocytes from diabetics, the dynamics of deoxy-D-glucose uptake significantly differed from that in healthy subjects. There was also a significant difference between the diabetic groups, representing different modes of therapy and stages of the disease. Glucose transport into lymphocytes is apparently influenced by DM as well as by the mode of therapy. We suggest that peripheral blood lymphocytes may become a promising model for studies on glucose transport in diabetes.