Plausible involvement of a diabetic serum factor in neutrophil membrane pathology.

With a view to determining the role of diabetic serum factor (DSF) in the progression of membrane pathology, time-dependent preincubation effects of DSF on certain membrane-bound enzymes of normal polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNL) have been studied. DSF is found to cause significant decrements in the activities of Na+/K+ ATPase, PLC and AcE of PMNL on in vitro incubation for 60 min, while the effect on Ca2+/Mg2+ ATPase appears only on prolonged incubation with an initial hike in activity at 5 min. The implications of these results have been discussed.