Aortic Mucopolysaccharides in Experimental Diabetes

The effect of experimental diabetes, produced by 95 per cent pancreatectomy, on the synthesis and concentration of specific mucopolysaccharide fractions in rat aortas was studied. Animals were sacrificed three and six months after pancreatectomy, and the findings were significantly different at the different times. It was found that at three months, when blood sugar levels were only minimally elevated, the concentrations of chondroitin-4-sulfate, chondroitin-6-sulfate and dermatan sulfate-containing fractions were markedly increased, whereas six months after panereatectomy the concentrations of the chondroitin-4-sulfate and chondroitin-6-sulfate-containing fractions were lower than normal. The increase in these fractions at three months is ascribed to both increased synthesis and decreased degradation. At six months, concomitant with the rise in blood sugar, the metabolic pattern was reversed and there was decreased synthesis and increased degradation of these substances.