Impaired function of fibrinogen: Consequences on red cell aggregation in diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Two aspects regarding to the functional capacity of fibrinogen for aggregating the red cells were studied in both healthy volunteers and diabetic patients. The first one concerns the activation of the plasminogen that is present in the plasma, thereby involving the susceptibility of the plasma fibrinogen to degradation and ultimatly influencing the red cell aggregation characteristics. The second aspect concerns the quality of fibrinogen and its functional capacity for aggregating red cells. This later is carried-out on isolated and purified fibrinogen from plasma. Experiments made by activating the plasminogen suggest that fibrinogen is less degraded in the plasma of diabetic patients. On the other hand, fibrinogen when isolated from plasma samples of diabetics, is found to be distinct from those obtained from healthy volunteers by its aggregative effects.