Insulin and Membrane Microviscosity of Erythrocytes as Risk Factors for Stroke To the Editor: I read with great interest the comments by Dr Kernan and colleagues1 dealing with the insulin sensitivity in nondiabetic patients with a recent transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke. The results of their presented study demonstrated that pioglitazone may be effective for improving insulin sensit...

his study was conducted to investigate the values of the order parameter (S) and correlation time (τc) in electron spin resonance spectra for 5-DS(doxylstearic acid) and 16-DS (doxyl-stearic acid) in old normal controls and in patients with type 2 diabetes and stroke in order to assess any association between age-related disorders and membrane fluidity. Materials and Methods: We measured the me...

PURPOSE Deformability/rheologic behavior of erythrocytes are related to near-surface membrane fluidity. Specific agents can increase erythrocyte membrane fluidity in order to adjust hemodynamics in cardiovascular diseases. Grapefruit flavanone naringenin has been proposed for potential use in an alternative therapy of cardiovascular conditions. In respect to this, we assessed here effects of tw...

In the present study, to determine a possible role of insulin in the regulation of membrane functions, we have examined the effects of insulin on the membrane fluidity of erythrocytes in patients with essential hypertension and normotensive subjects. Membrane fluidity of erythrocytes obtained from hypertensive and normotensive subjects were evaluated by means of an electron paramagnetic resonan...

Here we describe techniques that we developed for monitoring membrane fluidity of individual yeast cells during environmental adaptation and physiological changes. Multiphoton scanning fluorescence microscopy using laurdan as a membrane probe enables determination whether fluidity changes seen by spectroscopy reflect universal responses or changes only of sub-populations. Yeast membranes are a ...

The role of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the fluidity of the annular lipid regions and their associated membrane-bound proteins is still not as well understood as that in the global (bulk) lipid regions. We therefore studied the effects of dietary DHA on the relationship between annular and global lipid fluidity and membrane-bound enzymes such as 5'-nucleotidase and Mg(2)+-ATPase in the rat bi...

Abnormal plasma lipoproteins in patients with liver disease are associated with characteristic changes in erythrocyte membrane lipid composition. The membranes are enriched in cholesterol and phosphatidylcholine and both the cholesterol/phospholipid and phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin molar ratios are increased. Phospholipid fatty acid composition is also abnormal; the proportions of arachido...

The effect of ethanol on the cytoplasmic membrane of Oenococcus oeni cells and the role of membrane changes in the acquired tolerance to ethanol were investigated. Membrane tolerance to ethanol was defined as the resistance to ethanol-induced leakage of preloaded carboxyfluorescein (cF) from cells. To probe the fluidity of the cytoplasmic membrane, intact cells were labeled with doxyl-stearic a...

Hyperinsulinemia, Intracellular Calcium, and Membrane Function in Essential Hypertension We read with interest comments by Dr. Sela et al dealing with a possible link between intracellular calcium content of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and plasma insulin level in patients with essential hypertension. The results of their presented study demonstrated that PMN in essential hypertension sho...